


Ragna Potter

by Dream_Catcher99



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse/Neglected Ragna Potter, Author apologizes for getting something wrong about religions, Fem!Harry Potter is Ragna Potter, Genius Ragna Potter, Includes some bashing, Like Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds genius, More warnings are to be added, No Golden Trio, No pairing at the moment, Not sure where the story is going, OFC - Freeform, OMC - Freeform, Powerful Ragna Potter, Prejudice wizarding world, Ragna sees Dumbledore as her enemy, Sentimental Hogwarts Castle, Tags are subjected to be change at any time, Talk about magical theory that may make no sense, Talk about religion, just a bit, not a crossover though, nothing graphic though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:20:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dream_Catcher99/pseuds/Dream_Catcher99
Summary: Grindelwald wanted to enslave muggles, believing Purebloods were the superior race.Voldemort wanted to kill off muggles and muggleborns, leaving Purebloods in charge.Even Dumbledore believed that they should rule over muggles, believing that they needed their guidance. He sided with Grindelwald and it was only after his sister was killed in a three-way duel that he change his mind.Now comes Ragna Potter.Half-blood. Girl-Who-Lived. Survivor. Fighter. Full of hate and looking for revenge. She has suffered at the hands of muggles and yet hates those raised in the wizarding world.Ragna Potter the Girl-Who-Lived, a fighter, a survivor -a child. Loneliness is all she has known. She has convinced herself she can only relied on herself and loneliness is her faithful companion yet her heart secretly yearns for companionship, for love... for someone to care.She enters the Wizarding World wanting to start a war... a revolution.Why should Purebloods be the only ones to fight for dominance? She thinks it's time a war is fought in the name of Muggleborns and she has named herself their champion.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. 
> 
> 1\. Read the tags -there is important information in them.
> 
> 2\. I added some original characters and some other characters (like Hermione) may not act as you expect them too so if you don't like don't read. 
> 
> 3\. I may forget to tag something so I apologize in advance. 
> 
> 4\. Be warned in advance --> English is not my first language.
> 
> 5\. Most of the magical theories I am coming up with I don't know half of what I am saying so sorry about that.
> 
> 6\. Religion is mention and I try not to go too much into it because I don't want to offend anyone so I apologize in advance if I get something wrong. I get most of my information from the internet but some I kind of come up with as I go so I am sorry about that. 
> 
> 7\. Ragna Potter is kind of going to be all over the place because she secretly desires a paternal figure, someone that would care about her, and yet she pretends she doesn't secretly want that.
> 
> I am not sure what else to say so without further ado... enjoy!

* * *

Hermione Granger was nervous about what awaited her as she passed the barrier in the train station that separated the magical world from the muggle world. She had read as many books as possible, she hated the fact that she was behind her peers because she had only learned about the magical world a couple of months ago. She was at a disadvantage but she was ready to prove to everyone that she deserved to be a witch… but what she truly desired more was to fit in. 

Hermione never ‘click’ with kids her age and after learning that she was a witch she was hoping she would find a place to fit in. Maybe she hadn’t been able to make friends with kids from her old school because she was a witch but now she would go to school with kids similar to her and she hoped that she would be able to find some friends. 

“Um, sorry I- I was just trying to find a compartment to sit on,” Hermione stuttered as six pairs of eyes turn to look at her upon opening the door of the compartment and it made Hermione realize that in her eagerness she had not even knocked. She blushed a bit in embarrassment.

There were five boys and only one girl in the compartment and they all seem to be her age but since there were so many of them there didn’t seem to be much space left for one more, no space for her.

“No worries, won’t you sit with us? I definitely need another girl to back me up,” the redhead girl spoke smiling friendly at Hermione. Standing near her made Hermione self-conscious. The girl was beautiful -with dark red hair that reminded Hermione of rubies and if her hair reminded Hermione of jewelry then her eyes seemed to be made of beautiful emeralds.

Hermione hesitated because she had seen girls like that in her school and they all turn out to be spoil mean girls that made fun of her but the girl didn’t seem to be that type of girl even if she could probably get away with it -what with a charisma that seemed to hang around her and with a face of an angel, Hermione wouldn't be surprised if the girl could get away with murder. 

“And where exactly is she going to sit?” The caramel skin boy closest to the door said not unkindly. 

“Dear Terry have you forgotten you are in the magical world now? Expanding the compartment should be a piece of cake,” the girl teased.

“Can you do it?” Another caramel skin boy (who sat near the window) asked eagerly but he wasn’t the only one eager to see more magic. Hermione was torn between seeing more magic and saying how they shouldn’t be performing magic on the train, it was against the rule afterall.

Before Hermione could make up her mind the girl spoke with her wand already in her hand which Hermione notice had come out from her wrist but yet she didn’t see how she kept her wand in her wrist. “Watch and learn my young apprentice. Capacious extremis.”

Nothing happened right away and Hermione was just opening her mouth to ask where she found the spell -to question the legitimacy of the spell- when the floor started to expand followed by the seats and the racks above them. 

“Wicked! Do you think you can teach me that spell?” The same previous boy asked while everyone nodded, agreeing with his sentiment, even Hermione. 

“Sure, but won’t be easy. It’s a pretty hard spell and the the ministry controls the use of it,” she said in such a blasé tone that took Hermione back, especially when she just admitted to committing a crime.

“Oh my god! You are going to get into trouble! Are you going to get expelled? Or thrown into prison!?” Hermione couldn’t help but blurt out a bit hysterical. 

“Neither,” the girl responded as she levitated Hermione’s trunk up to the racks where the other trunks where put. 

“You can do silent casting? I thought it was hard to master and something we don't have to learn until our last year at Hogwarts?”

“Wait, is everyone as advance as you?”

“I should have read more of my books, shouldn’t I?”

“Oh, man! I am going to get kicked out if I can’t keep up!” 

“I read the books but I haven’t done any magic because I thought it was illegal.”

“Can you teach us? Maybe we can learn a spell or two before we get there.”

The girl beside her seemed to take all of the questions in but Hermione was surprised that the kids around her had the same questions she had in her mind. It made her realize that she was probably among other muggleborns and it gave her hope that maybe she would find a place to fit in. 

“Alright, calm down all of you.” She turned to Hermione then and offered to shake her hand, “I am Ragna Potter by the way.”

“Are you really? I know all about you, of course —I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events to the Twentieth Century.” Hermione knew before she stopped talking that she had done something wrong. Ragna Potter had lost her friendly smile and she looked a little put off. 'Great', Hermione thought, 'I have offended my first potential friend and a famous person to boot'.

“Look I get that I am somewhat famous but I would prefer if you didn’t bring it up. The books out there with my name and the newspapers are all wrong about who I am and what happened to me that Halloween night and about what happened afterward. They are speculation and if I could I would sue them for using my name for their own profit I would but I can’t so I have to deal with it.” 

Hermione’s first response was to become offended that someone told her that what she read was wrong but how could Hermione tell Ragna Potter that she was wrong since she would know herself better than anyone else. If Ragna Potter said the books were wrong then she was right and the books were wrong, no matter how much Hermione hated the fact that her books could be wrong. 

“That’s despicable! The news can’t mention a minor’s name unless given permission by their parents. Doesn’t the wizarding world have the same law? Can’t your guardians do something about it?” That was Hermione’s second response and it seemed to be the right one because the tense air in the comportment vanished just like that. 

“I had the same question!” One of the boys piped in. “I am Justin Finch-Fletchley.” 

That seem to prompt the other boys to introduce themselves and Hermione finally could put names to the faces in the compartment. There was Wayne Hopkins and Dean Thomas who were from Wales, and Justin Finch-Fletchely, Micheal Corner, and Terry Boot who were from London. 

“I am Hermione Granger.” Hermione finally introduced and the rest of the train ride wasn’t as bad as she thought.All of the boys were muggleborns just like Hermione -but all of them were muggle raised since Regna Potter grew up with her muggle aunt.

“You read all of the books already?” Wayne looked at Hermione, Terry, and Micheal like they were bonkers. 

“Well, we have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?” Hermione asked a rhetorical question. “The other students grew up in the magical world while we only had a few months to prepare. I memorized all of my school books and read a few extra ones just in case.”

“I don’t have them memorized but I read them once just in case the teachers dive right in.” Terry didn’t have to explain himself, they all understood the saying, unlike a pureblood who would not have understood the reference.

“I was nervous about the sorting, I thought it may be some kind of exam -so I decided to learn as much as I could,” Micheal explains simply. 

“I wouldn’t worry about being behind our peers academically,” Ragna spoke before the others could panic and decide to take their books out of their trunks to cram as much information as they could before they arrived at Hogwarts.

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked suspiciously, noting the wording. They would not be behind academically but in another category would they be behind?

“Well, think about it logically. Its against the law for minors to perform magic outside of school so those who grew up in the magical world would not have been able to practice magic either and I don’t think there will be many 11 year olds who would find it fun to learn all about the theory without being able to perform magic. If the students can’t perform magic before school then the method the school uses to sort us in different Houses should not be too difficult nor require any magical expertise.”

Everyone seemed to sighed in relief as they process her thoughts and realize that she was right. It made no sense for the school to give them a magical test that they would all fail because they were not allowed to perform magic outside of school.

“What we should be worried about is the wizarding culture and customs,” Ragna added.

“Wizarding culture and customs?” 

“Technically we live in the same land but the muggle and the wizarding world are two completely different cultures. Think of it like us going to visit China. Chinese people have different customs, language, traditions, rules, and so on. That is why I focus on finding out more about this world than anything else, for example, I learn that you should never ask a witch or a wizard what their wand is made out of, it’s just something you don’t do unless you are having a conversation with a wandlord or its something official.” Understanding dawn to them and they eagerly asked what more they should know about the magical world. 

“Well, there are tons of things to know. Do you know the different types of transportation? There is apparition of course, but there is also a portkey, broom, and the knight bus, some East countries also use flying carpets. Of course, there are the holidays, most witches and wizards are pagans -that is if they had to pick a religion but more often than not witches and wizards now don’t really lean towards a specific religion. Those that practice what they call ‘the old ways’ have to do it in secret because the ministry has made it illegal-”

“Wait, why? 

“Why is it illegal?”

“Does that mean they don’t celebrate Christmas? Halloween?”

“Do they have no holidays?”

“What do they celebrate instead?”

“I thought they celebrated Halloween and Christmas?” Ragna held a hand up to stop them from asking questions so that she could explain better.

“Well, what I am going to tell you is what I concluded happened based on some reading, observations, and conversations I had with some wizards and witches so it may not entirely correct,” Ragna explained first before she started explaining.

“As we know during the 17th century wizard-muggle relations were at its worst due to witch-hunting. Due to this, the International Confederation of Wizards sign the International Statute of Secrecy in 1692 and in 1750 added a clause that detailed each wizarding governing body’s responsibilities for concealment and possible disciplinary action of any breaches-“

“Wait, what is the International Confederation of Wizards?” Dean asked sheepishly. 

“The International Confederation of Wizards or I.C.W. for short is like the wizarding version of the United Nations in the muggle world,” Ragna answer Kindly not bother by the interruption. She was happy to note that everyone seem interest to hear her out and that she wasn’t boring them. “Hermione do you want a pen to write?” Ragna asked amused as she saw Hermione basically clench and flex her hand like she was itching to hold a pen. 

“I would really like one,” Hermione answer honestly and hesitantly.

“Here, I brought a couple of extra notebooks for my personal use,” Ragna prefer to give her supplies to her since she had them at hand instead of having to lift Hermione’s trunk out of the rack above them to get to her supplies. 

“Thanks!” Hermione seemed surprised but happy as she took the pen and notebook. 

“Do any of you want one too? To write down your questions for later or just take notes?” Ragna asked the rest of the group looking specifically at Terry and Micheal who were eyeing Hermione’s pen and notebook.

“You don’t mind?” Terry asked hesitantly.

“Not at all,” Ragna just made copies of the notebook and pen and distributed them to everyone in the compartment. She then pulled the tabletop so that they could put their notebooks and write instead of having to try to write in their lap. There was a chorus of ‘thanks’ as they all settle down to hear more about the wizarding history. 

So entrance they were about what Ragna was saying that they didn’t question her ability to perform advanced magic. 

“Alright so the British Ministry had already sign the statue of Secrecy in 1689 but it didn’t go into action until 1692 when the I.C.W. officially passed it. It took a couple of decades for the muggles to forget the existence of wizards and witches and to believe that magic only existed in fairy tales.

“In British, muggleborns are introduced at 11 years old and as you can imagine some parents took it well and some didn’t because religion was a very important part of life for citizens from both worlds until 1960 -when religion started declining. This cause conflict between muggle raised wizards and witches and magical raised wizards and witches, they had different believes and muggle raised wizards and witches were appalled by some of the wizarding customs they learned as they became used to the wizarding world. 

“The problem was the fanatics from both sides. There were witches and wizards that celebrated Paganism to an extreme. The Black family, a pureblood family, were some noticeable members that practice the extreme side of paganism, like offering human sacrifices.

“Muggleborns were against such practice and there was a lack of communications from both sides so the misunderstanding continue to grow until what it is today. Laws were passed and through years the ministry continued to banned paganism holidays and customs, at first it was the extreme practices but later paganism was label dark as a whole. Many purebloods and magical raised wizards and witches blame those laws on muggleborns but what they don’t seem to remember is that muggleborns never had any power to change those laws. 

“There is extreme prejudice in the wizarding world against muggleborns and muggles. Things are getting better for muggleborns but most muggleborns today return to the muggle world because it's very hard for them to make a living in the Wizarding World and to rise through the ranks in their work place. Back then there were no muggleborns in the Wizengamot. The Wizengamot is the wizarding Britain’s high court of law and parliament. Even now there are 278 seats in the Wizengamot and 28 are muggleborns, 69 are empty, the rest of purebloods or half-bloods-

“How is that possible?”

“Why are there 69 seats empty? Can’t they fill them up?”

“That’s an even voting number, what happens if there is a tie?”

“Well, there are 278 seats plus the Chief Warlock which breaks up a tie if there is one. The seats are gain through inheritance so the 69 empty seats mean that 69 families died out.”

“That’s nepotism!” Hermione exclaimed scandalize.

“Nepo-what now?” Wayne asked confuse.

“Nepotism is the practice among those with with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.” Hermione seemed to recite the dictionary definition word by word. 

“Oh,” Wayne reply lamely as he wasn’t sure if Hermione meant to make him feel stupid by her tone of if that was just her tone of voice. He wasn’t one to make brash assumptions though so he decided not to take offense to it.

“How did muggleborns gain those seats if that is the case?” Justin asked confuse.

“There was a bit of rebellion because the people did not like that only the wealthy had the power. After that, the wizengamot created 60 seats to be filled by the choice of the people. 28 are muggleborns and the rest or either pureblood or half-blood.”

“That sucks, why didn’t Professor McGonagall mention any of that when she introduces us to the magical world?” Dean complained.

“Probably because she didn’t want to scare you away. You do need to learn to control your magic and for that, you need to go to school. I don’t think many of us would have jumped at the chance to enter the wizarding world like we did if we had known we would be look down upon and that we basically didn’t have a future in the magical world,” Ragna says drily before she softened her tone. “Not all magical raised wizards and witches are super bad.”

“Your choice of word is suspicious,” Hermione narrowed her eyes, catching on for the second time the way Ragna phrase her wording. If not all magical raised wizards and witches were super bad then it meant some were just bad instead of super bad. 

“Well, I guess you better be prepared for it,” Ragna sighs before she tells them. “Some will sneer and look down on you because you are muggleborns, some won’t sneer but will look down on you -whether they know they are doing it or not- because those raised in the magical world are completely out of the loop of how muggles have advanced and so they imagine muggles to be some type of uneducated brutes so they feel bad about us because we were raised in the muggle world.”

“That’s! That’s! That’s!…” Micheal seemed to lack the right words about their situation.

“Stupid!” Dean declared huffing.

“Unfair,” Wayne sighed.

“Irritating!” Justin seethed quietly.

“Shitty!” Terry said through clench teeth

“Appalling!” Hermione declare in such a lady-like way that it made them all pause to stare at her in disbelieve. Ragna couldn’t hold the giggle that escaped her and soon the others were laughing too, even Hermione even though her cheeks were tinted pink. 

They were interrupted by the trolley lady who asked if we wanted some sweets. They all bought some, even Hermione who wanted to taste some magical candy. Ragna had packed a basket of food that she shared with everyone which was brilliant because they were all hungry by the time they were half-way there. 

“So what houses does everyone want to be in?” Justin asked curiously as they started eating.

“Ravenclaw.”

“Gryffindor” Difference voices called out but only two houses were called out, it seemed one half of their group wanted to be in Ravenclaw and the other in Gryffindor. 

This conversation ended in a discussion of the traits of each house. Their views were only a bit tainted already by what they had heard in the magical world. No one really wanted to go into Slytherin if only because everyone mention how they didn’t like muggleborns. 

“… that’s Headmaster Dumbledore’s old house, you know.” Hermione was saying.

“But you are not Dumbledore.” Surprisingly it was Justin and Ragna who spoke at the same time, not unkindly. 

“What could have work for him doesn’t mean it could work for you, Hermione. Instead of going to a famous house, you should work on making your house famous.” Those were wise words for an 11 year old boy. “That is why I want to go into Hufflepuff, it seems like a joke to the others in the wizarding world but I don’t think working hard and loyalty is anything to scoff at.”

Since Justin had asked -he had not answer what House he wanted to be in… until now that is.

“I would think you would fit more in Ravenclaw since you seem to be a very intellectual person. But that is my personal opinion,” Ragna added shrugging her shoulders. 

“Why do you want to be sorted into Gryffindor?” Micheal asked curiously, directing his question at Ragna.

“Well, that is where I fit the most. I am impatient, I am brash, I act before I think, I am an adrenaline junkie. I would fit right in Gryffindor it seems.”

“Are you saying Gryffindors are all brawn and no brain?” Terry chuckle

“Pretty much,” Ragna reply amuse.

“Harsh,” Wayne joked. 

“But accurate!” Dean and Justin chore in at the same with large smiles.

From there conversation seemed to continue to flow between all of them. Hermione exit the compartment while the boys change and Ragna went alone to the bathroom to change when they knew they would be arriving soon since Hermione was already wearing her uniform when she boarded the train.

“So… friends no matter in what House we are sorted into?” Dean asked bravely as the train came to a stop.

“mmm… I am not sure,” Ragna pretended to think about it seriously but couldn’t hold her laughter at the incredulous faces everyone made at her comment.

“Ha ha ha, you are hilarious Raga.” Micheal gave her a playful shove.

Ragna giggled a bit more but answers them, “I am not sure about each other but none of you are getting rid of me now. We share food on the train so that officially makes you my best friends. Hermione takes first place, of course, cause she is a girl." 

Ragna had no problem looping her arm around Hermione’s arm and dragging the poor startle girl out of the train to get going. 

“Oi! But what about me? We met first?” Justin calls behind them trying to sound offended but failing to do so. 

“You know what they say, sisters before misters!” Ragna called back laughing, especially when she heard the other boys tease Justin in good fun.

Since it was four to a boat Wayne, Dean, Justin, and Terry went into one boat and Micheal, Ragna, and Hermione took another boat with a timid-looking girl. 

“Hello, I am Ragna. This is Hermione and Micheal,” Ragna of course didn’t hesitated to introduce themselves to the girl. 

“Lily,” the timid red hair girl answer quietly and Ragna froze momentarily. Her enthusiasm gone for just a second before a smile appear in her face but to Hermione and Micheal it seemed more force.

“Nice to meet you, are you muggle raised?” Ragna asked curiously as the boats started moving. 

“Yeah.” The other three did not miss the flinch that came with that answer. Obviously Lily did not have a good impression about being a muggleborn, Ragna wondered what racist pureblood she had come across.

“Cool, we are all muggle raised too,” Micheal spoke, remembering to say the phrase ‘muggle raised’ since Ragna wasn’t technically a muggleborn even though she had been raised as one. 

They didn’t speak after that but Lily’s shoulders relaxed after that information. Whatever thoughts they had flew out of their mind as they gaze upon Hogwarts for the first time. It was definitely beautiful but Ragna wasn’t only taken back by its beauty but by its magic. She could feel it vibrate as it welcome the students, to Ragna it felt like she was returning home after going to war. For a moment she got lost in that feeling of warmth and comfort before she came to her senses and push away those feelings. Push away the magic. 

Hogwarts wasn’t her home and it would never become her home. Her enemy reside in its very halls and she could not afford to bring down the shields she had put around herself. She would not fall for the feelings of warmth and welcomeness. Ragna felt like crying as she consciously rejected the comfort Hogwarts tried to offer, it felt like she was rejecting her mother. 

Hogwarts seemed to actually pause at it felt a rejection for once in its creation. Many had left its halls, some willingly and some unwillingly but they all had accept Hogwarts. They all had become fond of it. Salazar Slytherin had left in anger and turmoil but he had left his pet in order to protect Hogwarts. 

Many abuse and hurt children had come to Hogwarts and no matter the obstacles those children had gone through they had welcome the small comfort it could provide for them. Many children were bully inside its hall but even those children had accept Hogwarts, Severus Snape was a testament to that. 

Many Dark Lords had come to Hogwarts, the latest one -Voldemort- was one of many examples. He had been already twisted when he had arrived and he had already his heart harden but he had accepted Hogwarts. Yet, this child pushed Hogwarts away. Push the comfort Hogwarts wanted to provide. Her heart wasn’t hardened nor her soul twisted but yet she rejected Hogwarts. 

It was a humbling experience for a sentimental castle to be rejected. It would not push the child to accept Hogwarts’ warmth, somehow it already knew the child would never change her mind. However, it felt sorrow for the child that had no place to call home. No place she could feel safe and no place she could let her guard down. Hogwarts wept quietly in the child’s place since it seemed the child would not allowed herself to shed tears. 

By the time they arrived at the shore, Ragna looked completely normal again. Her face didn’t give away the fact that minutes ago she had shut her eyes tightly and bailed her hands into fists to stop herself from crying. She hadn’t cried since she was seven and she wasn’t going to do so now. 

“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” the giant man, Hagrid informed the Head Deputy and Head of Gryffindor when she came out. 

“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here,” Professor McGonagall gave a vibe of a nonsense teacher. 

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” Her eyes linger on some of the kids in front of her. “I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.”

With that she left them alone. Everywhere Ragna turned to look she saw nervous faces. Her friends were nervous too except not as much as the other kids since they had already talked about the sorting in the train and logically they knew it could not be too bad. Hermione may not be moving her mouth but it was clear that she was going through all of her knowledge in her head.

“Don’t worry, if you have to fight a troll I would just jump in to help you,” Ragna casually told her group of friends and Lily who had not left their side.

“I can see you jumping on the back of a troll,” Terry murmur, actually serious. 

“I bet a chocolate frog she won’t,” Micheal was quick to make a bet. 

“Deal.” Of course, Terry would be quick to jump on the bet too.

It seemed her distraction had worked as they were more observe on the hypothetical situation Ragna presented for them. Even Hermione was no longer going over her spells in her mind, instead, she was looking disapprovingly at both boys. Hermione did look like the rule follower type of student. 

“You shouldn’t bet on such an absorb situation, Ragna would never find herself in a situation where she would have to face a troll.”

“Want to bet a chocolate frog?” Dean asked, now wanting to make a bet too since the other two boys had a bet going.

“Come on Hermione, Dean is practically gifting you a chocolate frog,” Justin strung along teasingly. 

“Live in the wild side Hermione,” Wayne added with a dramatic wink. 

“Honestly,” Hermione murmur petulantly but her cheeks were getting redder and there was an uncertain look in her eyes.

“Go on Hermione, you get to show Dean your superiority,” Ragna added, knowing Hermione just needed a small push.

“Alright, alright. But only because it’s a chocolate frog,” Hermione agreed reluctantly but smile shyly when the others cheered her on. 

That brought attention to themselves but it was quickly directed to the kids behind them when a few of them scream. They whipped their heads just in time to see a bunch of ghosts floating their way. 

“There are ghost!” Wayne seemed completely taken back along with Dean. 

“They are mention in Hogwarts: A History,” Ragna told them helpfully which wasn’t that helpful at all because it didn’t lessen the shock. 

What looked like a fat little monk was saying: “Forgive and forget, I say, we haven’t given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost -I say, what are you all doing here?”

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

“New students!” Said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. “About to be sorted, I supposed?”

A few people nodded mutely.

“Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!” Said the Friar. “My old house, you know.”

“Move along now,” the sharp of Professor McGonagall rang out as she came back. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start, form a line, and follow me.”

Ragna ended up walking in front of Micheal and behind Lily. She still heard Hermione whisper a couple of spaces in front of her, “It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History.”

Ragna had gotten the impression that once Hermione was nervous she would ramble on any knowledge she had over the matter. She was sure the other boys had observe the same. It was something Ragna would have to work with her though before it started annoying them or other kids. She didn’t want to see Hermione be push outside their year group because she needed some basic social skills. 

When the hat started to sing Ragna was amused. A talking hat. They were sorted by a talking hat, by the faces of her friends they found it amusing too. It was taunting to have the whole school observing their sorting but Ragna was sure the other students already sorted were more eager for the sorting to be done so they could eat than seeing where a random eleven-year-old kid was sorted. 

Once the song ended and they had politely clap Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott, Hannah!”

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat which fell right down over her eyes. 

“Hufflepuff!” The hat shouted after a moment of pause. 

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah Abbott went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

“Bones, Susan!”

“Hufflepuff!” Shouted the hat again and Susan Bones scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. They seemed like they know each other already by the excited smiles. 

“Boot, Terry!” Terry was actually the first person to be sorted from their group of friends and he looked excited at the prospect of being sorted.

“Ravenclaw!” It really was no surprise to the rest of their group. They clap enthusiastically for him since they knew that is where he wanted to go. They were happy to note several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. So far the students seemed very welcoming.

Micheal was the next of their friends to be sorted and he went to Ravenclaw just like Terry -and just like he wanted. Terry seemed pleased to have a familiar face with him. 

Justin looked pleased when he was sorted into Hufflepuff since that is where he wanted to go. Hermione’s sorting took a long time but eventually, she was sorted into Gryffindor. Hermione had look hesitantly at Ragna of all people but Ragna knew Hermione got into the house she wanted and as long as that is what Hermione wanted Ragna would cheer her on so she clapped just as enthusiastically as she did for the others and gave Hermione a thumbs up. After that Hermione perk up immediately. 

Wayne was sorted into Hufflepuff and they were uncertain if they should clap or sympathize at first since he had said he wanted to go into Gryffindor but Wayne seemed happy about his sorting -so they clap. Justin looked pleased to have a familiar face too. 

Lily, the timid red hair girl, was sorted into Gryffindor. Gryffindor! Ragna wanted to moan at her fate. Not only was the girl carrying her mother’s name, but she was also a redhead and now she was apparently sorted into Gryffindor. The only mercy was the fact that she had brown eyes instead of a shade of green. Ragna imagined she would have felt like her personal hell for the next seven years if the girl had green eyes to boot. Thankfully she didn’t. 

Then it was her turn to be sorted. 

“Potter, Ragna!” 

She didn’t walk with grace, she didn’t look like she was floating. No, Ragan walked with determination. She square her shoulders and held her head high but she avoided looking at the table full of Professors. Her enemy was there and she knew that she was completely hopeless against him but she held onto the hope that it would not be forever. The hold he had on her would not hold forever. She was determined to break free. 

The last thing she saw before the hat cover her eyes were students trying to get a good look at her like she was an animal on display at the zoo. It made her hands clench into fists but she held onto her temper. 

“Hogwarts let me know you rejected her sanctuary.” Ragna just stopped herself from jumping in the air at the sudden voice in her mind.

“It’s not really sanctuary if your enemy is already inside,” Ragna replied in her mind. 

The hat sighed sadly in her mind, “Albus has committed many mistakes but he was committed the biggest with you I fear.”

“With power comes responsibility,” Ragna simply replied.

“You want to start a war when the wizarding world is still recovering from the last one. So many innocent lives will be lost, so many brilliant minds lost, so much blood spill.” 

“That didn’t stop the others. That didn’t stop Voldemort or Grindelwald… or Dumbledore. For the greater good they said… all for the greater good. All men. All fighting for pureblood rights. I think it’s time we add some woman power and I think it's time muggleborns fight for dominance for once,” Ragna argued harshly with the hat in her mind.

“You have no plan. You are only filled with resentment and anger, they are your only drives. They will not lead you far.”

“You forget determination and intelligence. I don’t plan on starting a war at eleven years old. I have time to become a bit wiser and I can be patient when the reward outweighs the long wait. I won’t lead alone, I will have a council,” Ragna replied more calmly.

“Your friends, they are your first recruitments. They don’t deserve to be use like that, they really admire you.”

“If my goal is so insane they will not follow me and with no followers I won’t grow to be a threat. If I do start a war than you will know it was only possible because there is a serious problem in our society that needs fixing.”

“You are not afraid I will tell Dumbledore of our conversation. Of what I have seen in your mind.”

“I know you are bound to keep silent about what goes on in a student’s mind. I am sure you can give him hints here and there but I am not hiding. My advantage is that people are blind by their own expectations of me… I am not going to hide Hat -now please sort me already.”

“I could sort you in Slytherin, that would make people suspicious of you from the very beginning.”

“Empty threat. Godric design you to sort students based on their personality and to take their opinion into consideration. You and I both know I belong in Gryffindor… I am not sure why you are so against me. I don’t think you put such a fight when you sorted Voldemort and you saw how twisted his mind was and what cruelties he was capable of.”

This time there was no answer, the Hat stayed silent in her mind but outside it opened its mouth and shouted, “Gryffindor!”

Her sorting had apparently been the longest among her year but not even close to breaking the school record. The Gryffindor table cheered and two redheaded twins even shouted: ’We got Potter! We got Potter!’

Ragna didn’t show any of her reluctance as she shook hands with others. But she was thankful that Hermione had saved her a seat and that it the very last one with her back facing the wall. Hermione seemed to vibrate in her chair with excitement however she contained it in as the sorting continue. To Ragna’s surprise, Lily was sticking close to them but she made sure to send the timid girl a friendly smile to not scare her off. As far as Ragna was concerned, Lily was muggle raised so she was one of them.

Dean joined their table soon enough and thankfully there were only a couple of kids left. Soon ‘Zabini Blaise!” was called and seconds later he was sorted into Slytherin. 

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet then. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. Only Ragna knew how dangerous Albus Dumbledore could be behind that facade. 

“Welcome,” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!”

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Ragna stared at her plate quietly. She was so afraid (though she would denied it) that she refused to look even at his general direction.

“Is he -a bit mad?” Ragna heard Dean asked hesitantly and Ragna let out a quiet bitter snort. No, Dumbledore wasn’t mad, he was a genius much to Ragna’s disgust.

“Mad?” A redhead boy who Ragna remembered as Ron Weasley retorted. “He’s a genius! Best wizards in the world! But is a a bit mad, yes. I am Ron Weasley by the way.”

“Dean Thomas,” Dean introduce himself in return before both boys were distracted by the amount of food that appeared in front of them. 

Ragna could imagine that the feast set up in front of her was worthy of a king’s feast but Ragna was no king nor queen. She was not used to eating too much and all of the food in front of her was too heavy.

“Not particularly feeling anything?” Ragna asked Hermione when the girl next to her didn’t immediately start piling her plate up like everyone else.

Hermione seemed startle at being caught but nodded after a small paused, “I prefer something lighter for dinner. We ate in the train so I am not particularly hungry either.”

Ragna nodded along, agreeing with her. “I would want some soup.”

But even though nothing was extremely appealing to her, Ragna started filling up her plate with the lighter options which at the moment were chicken and boiled potatoes. Hermione just a second behind her. 

“That does look good.” Ragna turn her head to the side to see a ghost in the ruff who looked sad as he look at the feast on the table.

“If you can’t eat then may I ask what sustains you?” Ragna asked curiously since going by the sad tone of the ghost it was clear he had not eaten for along time.

The ghost looked startle at her question looking at her more closes and yet Ragna did not shy away from his scrutiny. “ My, my, I don’t think anyone has asked me that before, but to answer your question… magic,” the ghost seemed to find amusement in having everyone hanging from his word. “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your services. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower.”

“I know who you are!” Exclaimed Ron Weasley abruptly just as Ragna was opening her mouth to introduce herself. “My brothers told me about you -you’re Nearly Headless Nick!”

“I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-” the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted. 

“Nearly Headless? How can you nearly headless?” Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed and Ragna wanted to slap her hand on her face at the rudeness of house mates but she referred from doing so because Petunia had engrained manners into her whether she liked them or not. 

“Like this,” he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.

Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, “So- new Gryffindors! I hope you’re going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have gotten the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron’s becoming almost unbearable - he’s the Slytherin ghost.”

Ragna looked over at the Slytherin table along with most of the other students and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to a blond kid that didn’t look too pleased with the seating arrangements. 

“How did he get covered in blood?” Asked Seamus with great interest and Ragna wanted to groan in despair. Clearly, her classmates had no ounce of tact in their blood. 

“I’ve never asked,” said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs, and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding- and the list goes on.

Ragna put some strawberries in her plate and a bit of rice pudding. She ate her dessert peacefully as everyone around her started talking about their families. She did pause when Seamus was talking about his family.

“I’m half and half,” said Seamus. “Me dad’s a muggle. Mom didn’t tell him she was a witch ’til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him.”

The others laughed.

Ragna didn’t and she noticed Lily and another boy name William White didn’t either. Both had actually turn a concerning pale and Ragna narrow her eyes suspiciously at them, making a note to dig a bit deeper into their situation later on.

“Hey, Will you grew up in the muggle world right?” Ragna waited for the startled boy to nod his head hesitantly before continuing. “What’s your favorite football team? Mine is Barcelona.” 

“Traitor to your country!” Dean dramatically pointed his finger at her, having paid attention to her once she mentioned ‘football’ just as she was hoping.

“There is no rule saying that I have to like a team from my country,” Ragna retorted smugly.

“My favorite team is Arsenal,” Will chuckle, having relaxed at Dean and Ragna’s easy conversation.

“My man!” Dean was clearly thrilled to have someone that share his sentiment and from there Ragna lost them as both boys started an enthusiastic conversation about football. Dean was a hard die fanatic while Will wasn’t as loyal so he could point out their mistakes and weaknesses. 

Now that she had taken care of that she turned to Lily, “Hey Lily, excited about classes? I think I am looking towards History class the most, what about you?”

“I- I am also looking forward to History class, it’s my favorite class in my school too. I haven’t been able to read my school books too much so I am nervous about keeping up,” Lily admitted.

Hermione like a shark smelling blood in the water quickly latch into a conversation with Lily about their classes. She had been trying to talk to Percy Weasley, fifth year Gryffindor prefect, about what to expect but had given up because they were too far away to hold a conversation.

“… I am hoping to practice some spells mention in our Transfiguration books before our class with Professor McGonagall. She is the Head Deputy and our Head of House and I don’t want to let her down.”

“Hermione, breath,” Ragna chuckle trying to get Hermione to slow down. She was trying to stop Hermione from overwhelming Lily and she seemed to be half-succeeding. “Don’t worry Lily, our Professors won’t make us hit the ground running. They will probably start us with small simple spells because they know we haven’t had any practice with magic before now. I think our first Transfiguration spell is-”

“What about you Potter?” Ron Weasley eagerly called out her name and Ragna blink in surprise not having expected to be brought into a conversation she was not part of.

“What about me?” Ragna asked confused not having been paying attention to the conversation the other first years were having.

“Is it true -that you have, you know,” the boy gesture to his own forehead but Ragna understood what he was referring too and it made her sit up stiffly up pressing her lips together in displeasure but trying to reign in her temper. 

“Did you really defeat You-Know-Who?”

“Do you remember that night?”

“Is it true that you got a lighting bolt scar in your head from that night?”

Ragna saw from the corner of her eye Dean shaking his head and waving his hands around trying to tell the others to stop their questions. Hermione was shifting nervously switching between looking at her with concern and giving disapproving looks to the other first years who were shooting the questions.

“Can we see the scar?”

Ragna’s magic was getting out of her control and it was making the table tremble enough that every student sitting in the Gryffindor table was looking around, wondering what was going on. Students in the Hufflepuff table, which was the closes table to their own, were noticing something was going on in the Gryffindor table.

Maybe Ragna would have been able to hold her temper and her magic if the last question hadn’t been voiced out-loud. As it was, it was the last question that broke her control and she practically growled as her magic lash out but thankfully she had enough sense to direct her magic towards the plates full of dessert instead of directing it towards those who had annoyed her. 

It was a good thing because her magic literally froze the dishes, ice-covered the middle of the table from one end of the table to the other. Ragna heard some students yelp as they quickly pull their hands away from where they are just about to get one more dessert. 

That act of magic quickly silent the hall and brought everyone’s attention to the Gryffindor table. Ron Weasley and Seamus Finningan who had gang up on her had not looked away from her gaze and they looked terrified. ‘Good’ Ragna thought.

“No, you can’t see my scar. But if you want to look at one so badly you can go ask a dark lord to come to kill your father first then your mother as she begs -not for her life to be spare, but for yours- and then you can have a scar just like mine to look at every day you look in a mirror. Forever, reminded of what was taken from you by a pathetic power hungry monster.” Ragna’s voice, just like her magic came out icy. 

Her voice rang out through the hall since no one had made a squeak of sound and she stared icily at Ron and Seamus for a second just to drive her point home before she carelessly waved her wand and the ice resided, leaving everything intact and just like how it was before. 

“So Lily, as I was saying, Professor McGonagall won’t have us start on something too difficult. I actually think all of our professors have us start by learning theory the first couple of weeks if not months…” Ragna focused completely on Lily, forcing herself to ignore everyone’s looks and acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

Hermione and Dean were the first ones to recover but they struggle to not show their amazement or their fear at seeing such a powerful piece of magic. Conversations picked up in the hall again but Ragna wasn’t ignorant to not hear that it was all about her. 

She didn’t dare too look at the head table. She ignored everyone and use Lily’s wide brown eyes to anchor her. Lily could only stare at her wide eye and nod in some parts but that was fine with Ragna. She could pretend they were actually having a conversations instead of her basically talking to herself. 

At last, the desserts disappeared and Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. Some shot looks her way as if expecting the Headmaster to say something about her show of magic.

“Ahem -just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should notice that the forest on the ground is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.” Dumbledore’s twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the twins who had yelled ‘we got Potter’ when she was sorted.

“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die in a very painful death.”

A few first years laughed at other tables but it seemed after her display of magic and her harsh words the first year Gryffindors were not feeling the festival mood any longer. 

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” Cried Dumbledore. Ragna didn’t see but the other teacher’s smiles had become rather fixed.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff

For now they’re bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff

So teach us things worth knowing

Bring back what we’ve forgotten

Just do your best, we’ll do the rest

And learn until our brains all rot

Ragna wasn’t particularly fond of the song but maybe it was because it wasn’t well sung. But it seems what Gryffindor first years needed because they were more at ease afterward.

They followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up to the marble staircase. Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, even with a sleepy mind Ragna knew she would remember the path tomorrow morning. 

On their way to Gryffindor tower, a bundle of walking sticks was flailing in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

“Peeves,” Percy whispered at the first years. “A poltergeist.” He raised his voice, “Peeves -show yourself!”

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

“Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?”

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

“Oooooh!” He said, with an evil cycle. “Ickle Firsties! What fun!” He scoped suddenly at them. They all ducked, their sleepiness forgotten for a moment.

“Go away, Peeves, or that Baron’ll hear about this, I mean it!” Barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville Longbottom’s head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

“You want to watch out for Peeves,” said Percy, as they set off again. “The Bloody Baron’s the only one who can control him, he won’t even listen to us prefects. Here we are.”

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. 

“Password?” She said.

“Caput Draconis,” said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it -Neville Longbottom needed a leg up- and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. 

Thankfully Percy directed the girls through the door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase -they were obsequiously in one of the towers- they found their beds at last: eight beds. A bit crowded but Ragna could live with the arrangement. Ragna was quick to pick the bed near the window in a corner and Hermione ended up picking the bed closes to her, Lily picking the bed on the other side of Hermione’s bed.

The other girls who Ragna hadn’t talk to at all but knew their names were Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Olivia Maxime, Sophia Bletchley, and Sally Smith -the last one being a muggleborn. 

Ragna told goodnight to Hermione and Lily and dived to her bed pulling the drawings around her bed for privacy. She didn’t even change her clothes or brush her teeth, she was exhausted and within a second of putting her head on her pillow she was out like a light. 

She usually did more in one day and she didn’t find herself as exhausted but maybe the magic she had performed tired her out more than she thought. Or maybe the excitement of the day tired her out. Either way, Ragna was lost to the world of the living, her guard down… or at least as down as a girl who didn’t have any place to feel safe and had no one she trusted could. She slept, snoring softly as she held her wand tightly in her hand, ready to protect herself in case of an attack.

———————-

In another tower, an old man was having a conversation with a hat.

“What can you tell me about Ragna Potter?” Dumbledore twirled his finger around his beard absently minded as he sat at his desk. The display of magic during the welcoming feast had been surprising but not unexpected. If the prophecy said Ragna Potter was the equal of Tom then he expected her to possess the same magic prowess.

He did wonder what power she would possess that Tom did not. For many years he had thought it was love since Tom could not love but after the display of elemental magic, it made him reconsider his assumption. 

But he would only observe for the moment. So far nothing indicated that she needed to be watched out for -she was sorted into Gryffindor, she was talking to muggleborns without any reservation, she didn’t seem to act superior or egotistical -in fact, based on the accident tonight he was sure she didn’t like her fame which was what he was hoping for. She did have a temper but he was sure she got that from her mother -Lily Evans had a temper to match her hair and apparently, Ragna had not only inherited her mothers’ looks.

“You know I can’t speak of what I see inside a student’s mind,” the Hat finally answer after a long moment of silence.

“Give me your opinion of her then,” Dumbledore suggested expectantly. This wasn’t the first time they had talked about students.

“I believe that she posses the best traits of each house,” the Hat struggle to speak, Hogwarts’ magic seemed to particularly want to stop him from speaking out which made the Hat wonder. The girl hadn’t accepted Hogwarts so it wondered why Hogwarts wanted to protect her.

“But you put her in Gryffindor,” Dumbledore pointed out.

“I did,” the Hat dutifully agreed. It wanted to scream that they would be witnessing the rise of a Dark Lady since Morgana LeFey. It wanted to warn Dumbledore to not trust the girl. It wanted to prevent her from growing stronger.

“Goodnight Albus.” The Hat spoke before going silent no matter how much the Headmaster asked for more information. 

Because no matter how much it wanted to stop her, it wanted to see what would become of the girl. A Dark Lady fighting for muggleborns. A Slytherin and yet equally a Gryffindor. The Hat wanted to stop her with just as much desire it wanted to see what she would become. _Ragna Potter, just how are you going to change the world?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened first week of school, not counting the weekend.

_**'** hello **' =**_ thoughts

"Hello" = normal dialogue 

_ Italics are sometimes used by themselves to empathize a word _

The next morning Ragna, Hermione, and Lily headed to the Great Hall together early in the morning. 

Ragna had woken up first and just like every morning she had stood in front of a mirror and parted her bangs away to expose the scar on her forehead… and stared. She thought that it was the least she could do, remind herself each day of her parents’ murder... that she had survived and they hadn’t. 

By the time she came out of the bathroom, Hermione was searching for her uniform and Ragna decided on waking up Lily so she could get ready and the three of them could head to the Great Hall. Ragna was used to rising early in the morning and by the looks of it so did Hermione. Lily... not so much.

“How were you able to remember the way back to the Great Hall?” Lily asked with awe as they enter the Great Hall.

“I have a good memory,” Ragna shrugged like it was no big deal and not wanting to expand on exactly how good her memory was and what exactly she could do.

“Oh! Look Terry and Micheal are already here,” Ragna pointed out when she looked over at the Ravenclaw table which was the fullest out of the hour house tables. Brainy people actually woke up early apparently.

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked with concern even though she followed after Ragna.

“To sit with them of course.”

“It’s against the rules!” Hermione hiss like a stressed cat and she look at the head table as if worry the professors would pop out of thin air and scold her.

“No, it's not. You have to sit at your House table for official feasts like the end of term feast. Besides those times -you can sit at whatever table you want.”

“How do you know that?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“I familiarize myself with Hogwarts rules,” Ragna answer drily.

“Terry! Micheal! It’s good to see you, this is Lily Moon, Lily this is Terry Boot and Micheal Corner.” Ragna introduced everyone at the table as she smoothly found a spot to sit and started looking around to see what she wanted to eat for breakfast.

“Um, hi,” Micheal stuttered a bit, taken back by Ragna’s abrupt appearance and by how she made herself at home at their table without hesitation. 

“Are you allowed to sit here?” Terry asked not unkindly.

“Apparently there isn’t a rule that says we can’t sit in other House tables, as long as it’s not an official feast,” Hermione answer, always eager to spread knowledge and Ragna didn’t seem like she was going to answer so Hermione was more than happy to answer.

“Right, well guys let us introduce you to Stephen Cornfoot, Oliver Rivers, Isobel McDougal, and Mandy Brocklehurst, they are all muggle-raised like us,” Micheal introduce the four other Ravenclaw first years that were sitting on the other side of Terry and himself. “Guys these are Ragna Potter, Hermione Granger, and Lily Moon. We met Ragna and Hermione on the train ride.”

Due to being new to the wizarding world, the other children hadn’t developed the same awe toward Ragna that the children raised in the wizarding world had developed. It allowed for smoother conversation and they talk mostly about the same wonder they had towards magic, unlike the wizarding raised children, they didn’t take magic for granted. Ragna hoped she never did. 

“What happened between you guys and the other first years?” Ragna whispered to Micheal once everyone seemed to be in a conversation with someone. It was obvious that somehow the Ravenclaw first years were divided overnight.

“Of course you would notice that,” Micheal snorted quietly to not bring attention to themselves. At Ragna’s persistent stare Micheal sighed, “They looked down on us. Just because we didn’t grow up in the wizarding world doesn’t mean we haven’t read about the magical world and it isn’t like we aren’t trying to catch up but they treated us like we were stupid. We naturally ended up forming two groups, those raised in the wizarding world and us, muggleborns.”

“Don’t worry Micheal, we will show them. We will catch up to them and surpass them, that I can promise you.” Micheal stared at the determined illuminant green eyes of his friend and he believed her without any hesitation. Yes, they would show the world that looks down on them that they were just as deserving of magic as the rest of them. Muggle raised or not.

Ragna should have known that the differences between wizarding raised and muggle raised children in Ravenclaw would have clashed more sharply than in any other house... besides Slytherin of course -that is if muggleborns were sorted into Slytherin.

People usually thought that Slytherin was the house that contained the most inner bullies but Ragna knew better. Ravenclaws all wanted to prove their superiority against each other, the competition among themselves was harsher than in any other House and if someone was the clear winner they would scorn the person because they were smarter than them. 

In that aspect, Ragna was glad Hermione ended up not going to Ravenclaw. Her obvious superiority with her personality and appearance would have made her an obvious target for bullying. 

“Hey, guys!” Justin called out as he and Wayne made their way towards the Ravenclaw table. 

“Good morning! Come eat breakfast with us,” Ragna pushed Micheal further to the right and she herself moved one sit over so that Lily could slide one seat over too and give Justin and Wayne someplace to sit. She completely ignored Micheal’s huff at her treatment. 

“Can we sit at the Ravenclaw table?” Wayne asked even as both he and Justin took a sit. 

“Apparently there isn’t a rule that says we can’t sit in other House tables, as long as it’s not an official feast,” Terry told the two boys as he introduced them to everyone else. 

“I feel bad we didn’t wait for Dean and Will,” Ragna told Lily as she looked at the large group they made. They were getting pretty loud too since they were all trying to talk to one another. 

There was a conversation about classes, a conversation about where they had traveled to before, and a conversation about accidental magic stories all going on at the same time.

“They are here,” Lily pointed out and sure enough Dean and Will were just walking towards the Gryffindor table.

Ragna tried to get Dean’s attention by waving her hand discreetly, or as discreetly as she could, but it was Will who actually pointed her out to Dean who turned around to see their group.

‘Come sit’ Ragna mouthed at him exaggeratedly so that he could understand her. 

By the look on his face, he did not understand what she was trying to tell him so she just waved him over with her hands instead which he understood perfectly well. However, Will didn’t follow him and stood awkwardly not knowing if he should follow or not. 

So Ragna made a stop sign with her hand stopping Dean on his track and then she pointed over his shoulder but Dean thought she was pointed at him so he looked down to see if he had something on him. 

She almost groaned but she stopped herself and instead cross her arms back and forth to get him to stop and then she pointed more insistently behind him but dramatically to his left. This time Dean did look behind him but more towards the middle of the Gryffindor table instead of six feet towards his left 

He turned to look at her confuse and this time Ragna slapped her head on her forehead before she stood up and coped her hands together around her mouth and shouted, “BRING WILL WITH YOU!”

Understanding dawn on Dean’s face and gave her a thumbs-up as he returned to grab a blushing Will’s wrist and pulled him along. 

It was only then that Ragna looked at her friends who were staring right back at her. “What?” Ragna asked confused and that seemed to break the camels' back because they burst out laughing while Hermione actually moaned as she let her head fall on the table with a soft ‘thump’ which just added amusement to the situation.

“Never play charades Ragna,” Stephen Cornfoot told her in between his laugher. 

Ragna pouted, “It wasn’t my fault, I was perfectly clear on what I was trying to tell him, it was Dean who didn’t understand.”

“What didn’t I understand?” Dean asked as he arrived with Will. 

“You were both hilarious! We will have to play charades with you both on the same team at some point,” Mandy Brocklehurst commented with a big smile, not answering Dean’s question. 

“Right, come take a seat,” Micheal gesture for them both to take a seat as they made space for them as he started to make introductions. 

“Is it okay for us to sit on the Ravenclaw table?” Will asked as he and Dean pile food into their plate. 

“Apparently there isn’t a rule that says we can’t sit in other House tables, as long as it’s not an official feast.” Everyone repeated at the same time. 

They all blink in surprise at having accomplished it before Ragna piped in, “We should seriously think about joining the choir.” And just like that, the silence was broken with laughter and conversation picked up again. 

“… just think about it. If ghosts only came to be because they had magic and were not ready to pass to the great beyond then there would many more and they would be in many more places. Yet, Hogwarts is one of the only places that has ghosts. I bet ghosts have to die in a heavy magic concentration place in order to become… well, ghosts! If that is the case then all of Hogwarts' ghosts had died while on Hogwarts ground.” They had started a debate about ghosts of all things.

“A good deduction Miss Potter, and a correct one at that,” Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw House, spoke as he approached their noisy spot. “It would have been a pleasure to have you in Ravenclaw.”

“Thank you, Professor, you are too kind,” Ragna replied back politely and quietly which surprise her friends. They had learned quickly that Ragna was loud and opinionated along with playful and though she was not rude she was very forward. While talking to the professor she looked… shy, which was a side they had not seen of her.

“Well, I have come to deliver your schedules. Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall have given me a copy of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor first-year schedules since we notice we had quite a mixed bunch today,” the cheerful professor announced.

“You are not going to deduct points, are you professor?” Will asked bravely as he started to fidget nervously.

“Oh, Merlin no! We, professors, are delighted to see inter-house cooperation, in fact, I think you will be award one point to each of you for not letting tradition limit your friendship.” The first years cheered. It was only one point but for first years it felt good to be award a point already and for something they actually enjoy doing.

After he passed the schedules to everyone in their group he moved on to the rest of his house. They immediately looked at their schedule, wanting to compare what classes they had together. 

There were some cheers and some groans depending on who belonged to what house. Ragna was in the firm belief they had the short end of the stick because they shared most of their classes with Slytherins. They at least had History of Magic and Herbology with Hufflepuffs and Charms with Ravenclaws but Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy were with Slytherins. 

After promising to sit together again at lunch they all went their own way to get their books. With Ragna leading them they never gone lost once much to the amazement of her Gryffindor friends. 

When they enter the History of Magic classroom, everyone stuck to their house. She deliberately walked slower so that her friends would take a sit first and be paired off so she was the odd one out. 

Ragna ended up sitting behind Hermione and Lily but in front of Dean and Will. Sally Smith ended up sitting next to her and Ragna only send her a quick friendly smile before she focused back again on taking notes based on her history book. 

She was what muggles would consider an autodidact which meant she was a self-taught person. It wasn’t like she couldn’t learn from a teacher but she just preferred to teach herself and go at her own paste which she knew was too fast for the average kids.

She didn’t want to have a bunch of loose scrolls with information so instead, she had grabbed a never-ending journal she found in her vault that belonged to her mother but never got to use it. She was going to take all of her notes there from all of her classes and just divide them into different sections. So far she had five chapters outline already in her journal for History class. She didn’t bother with quills and instead used color pens, highlighters, and markers to create her notes. 

She half-heartily paid attention to what Professor Binns was saying, truthfully it had been a big let down since history was her favorite subject. Not only was history interesting but her teachers had always been able to engage the students and keep their attention. Professor Binns did not have any charism to keep the student’s attention on him, his voice did seem to put many students to sleep though.

The history book Hogwarts required first years to buy seemed to be full of goblins rebellions and wars against witches and wizards. She didn’t particularly want to spend the whole year learning about goblin rebellions so she decided to go through the whole book by the end of the week so she could read other history books. She could finish the book by the end of the day but unfortunately, she couldn’t write as fast as she could read.

“Dean, Will, wake up,” Ragna whispered at the sleeping paired behind her. “Wake up you two, its time to head to our next class.”

Ragna tried to wake them up nicely but Hermione had no problem practically shoving them towards the floor to wake them up. Her method, no matter how harsh, worked faster, and the two shot up startle from their sleep.

“Honestly you two, how can you sleep in class,” Hermione huff.

“In their defense Hermione, Professor Binns has a voice that puts people to sleep and they weren’t the only ones that fell asleep,” Ragna pointed out before the other two boys (or Dean more likely) snapped at Hermione. Having just gotten a rude awakening and having to hear a nagging voice would irritate anyone.

“I thought it would have been exciting to have a ghost as a Professor but Professor Binns doesn’t even appear to know we were here,” Hermione admitted remorsefully as they all started making their way out of the classroom.

“It was a major let down but I hope the rest of our professors are better at their jobs than Professor Binns,” Ragna answered bluntly. “History is an important subject, how can we learn from our leader’s mistakes if we don’t know about them. Not every student is interested enough in history to read about it outside of class which is why many of the students that pass through Hogwarts halls are ignorant about the wizarding world and its infuriating…what?”

“I didn’t know you were so…” Will started to say but trail off when he couldn’t find the word he was looking for.

“Passionate,” Dean filled in the blank. “I guess I never really appreciated history class until you put it that way but you are right, history is an important subject. I mean, we are still new to the wizarding world so it makes sense that it's through history class that we would learn more about it but instead, we have a professor that puts us to sleep,” Dean ended with a frown. 

“I wished that we would have started at the beginning of history… you know?” Lily added her opinion shyly. 

“You mean like the creation of earth and magic?” Will asked confused and Lily gave a small nod.

“But we all know how the earth was created… right?” Hermione started strongly and ended up looking questionably at the rest of them.

“Well, there are different versions of how the earth was created. If you are Christian you believe that God created earth just like it's mention in the bible. If you take the more scientific approach you would believe in the Big Bang theory which says that everything started from extremely high density and temperature -the space expanded, the universe cooled and the simplest elements were formed, etc. However, Lily does have a point. How do wizards think the world was created?” Ragna hum thoughtfully before coming to a stop when she realized her friends were not following her. 

“What?” She asked as she turned around to see her friends were gawking at her. 

“Did you swallow the whole dictionary or something?” Dean asked

“I like to read a lot and I am not picky about what subject,” Ragna shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal, and even if they seemed to want to continue the discussion about her reading ability, they drop the subject… though Hermione did seemed to practically bite her tongue to stop herself from asking hundreds of questions. 

“Do you think we could ask a professor?” Will asked returning back to the original topic. 

“About how the universe was created and how magic came to be?” Dean asked to clarify that is what Will was asking about.

“That sounds like an excellent idea!” Hermione added enthusiastically, always one for learning something new.

“Who should we ask though?” Lily questioned making everyone paused.

“We have Charms next so how about Professor Flitwick? He may not be the history professor but he is the Head of Ravenclaw,” Ragna suggested just as they came to the class. By the looks of it, they may have been the last group to arrive but they were not late yet so it was okay. 

“We will ask him after class,” Dean affirm as they took their sits with their Ravenclaw friends. 

“Asked who what after class?” Mandy asked curiously but before Dean could answer Professor Flitwick called order to the class. 

“Good morning students and welcome to your first class of Charms. I will be taking attendance so please say 'here' when I say your name…” Professor Flitwick started calling out names and Ragna warmed up to him by the end of class.

He didn’t make a fuss about her, he seemed to really enjoy teaching, he knew his subject, and he was easy going. Ragna was sure that Professor Flitwick was the favorite professor for many students, Ragna knew he had become one of her favorites by the end of class. 

He made it clear that they wouldn’t be trying any spells soon (much to the disappointment of the whole class -even her friends who had been nervous about professors expected them to cast spells on their first day just the night before) and they focused on the theory first.

She had some notes already in her journal about Charms so she just added a few things as the professor explained the basics of Charms. Her mother had surpassed in this class so it was not surprising that she had more notes in other journals about this subject than any other subject -besides Runes that is. 

“Should we ask him now?” Will asked as they gather their things when class ended.

“I mean, I don’t think he has another class,” Hermione replied unsurely. 

“What’s going on?” Mandy asked them again, turning around to face them.

“We want to ask Professor Flitwick how wizards think the world was created,” Dean answer before any of them could. 

“How did you came up with that question?” Isobel asked curiously as she too, turned around to face them. 

The five of them shared a look before Ragna answer, “It’s kind of a long story but we will fill you in at lunch. Right now we want to get an answer to our question.”

Before anyone could stop her she grab her bag and raced down the stairs to the front of the room where Professor Flitwick was gather his things and cleaning his whiteboard. 

“Professor Flitwick!” Ragna called out waving enthusiastically at the small professor shocking him enough that he almost tumble over the stack of books he was standing on. She completely ignored the groans and moans of despair coming behind her -along with the giggles. 

“Miss Potter, how can I help you?” Professor Flitwick smile at her, quickly getting over his shock at her suddenness and loudness.

“Professor I was hoping you could answer some of our questions, you see we had history first and when we left class we got talking,” Ragna pointed behind her without looking back, knowing her friends had not left and were paying attention. “We realize that we started at what seems a random point in history -1378 to be exact and it got us wondering about the very beginning. You see in the muggle world there are many theories about how the universe came to existence and how we humans came to be, but we realized that we don’t know how the magical world thinks the universe was created and we were hoping you could tell us.”

Professor Flitwick looked taken back but Ragna was sure that it had more to do with her ability to talk super fast than the question she had but at least he did not seem annoyed -if anything he seemed to enjoy such a thoughtful question. 

“Well, just like the muggle world, the wizarding world also has many theories on how the universe came to be,” Professor Flitwick started and it didn’t go unnoticed by him and Ragna that others scramble to get parchment and quills to write down notes. 

“First you have to know that wizards have different concepts about what magic is -for example, some believe that magic is sentimental and belief… for lacks of words that magic is aware -yes Mr. Rivers,” Professor Flitwick called on Oliver when Oliver actually raised his hand like they were in class.

“Is there any proof that magic has-is conscious? How much awareness are we talking about? Does this awareness contribute to our accidental magic? Does that mean magic is… alive?” In a true Ravenclaw fashion, Oliver raised interesting questions.

“Many experts in their perspective fields have asked those same questions Mr. Rivers and they have concluded that -yes, magic to some degree is conscious even though there are still many skeptics about that conclusion. However, Hogwarts is a perfect example of this theory. Contrary to many students’ assumption -that Rowena Ravenclaw enchanted the stairs to move in the Grand Staircase- that is not true. 

“It wasn’t until about 4 hundred years after Hogwarts was built that the stairs suddenly started to move. Though it’s not well known -each Hogwarts Headmaster keeps a record about any sudden changes they observe -or make- to the school. Headmaster Dumbledore did not mind allowing me to read through the journal, it’s a large book -much like the book that records future students and just like it, it must stay in the Headmaster’s office.

“Now, when we talk about how much awareness magic has -well, that is something we speculate even today. If you are magic sensitive you could probably feel Hogwarts’ magic welcoming you when you cross the lake in boats but Hogwarts has reached that level of awareness through hundreds of years from the magic the founders left its halls and the magic it absorbs every day from the students-”

“Wait, Professor, how is Hogwarts able to absorb our magic?” Stephen blurted out sounding alarmed.

“What magic did the founders leave? Shouldn’t that magic vanish through time? Professor McGonagall mentioned how over time what we transfigure goes back to its original shape because it loses magic,” Mandy added, using what she just learned from her first Transfiguration class to poke holes through Professor Flitwick’s words. 

Professor Flitwick didn’t look upset, he actually seemed to grow more excited as their conversation lengthen.

“Well, yes, Ms. Brocklehurst’s question first -Professor McGonagall is correct in the fact that most magic perform will eventually lose its magic and convert back to its original state. However, that only applies to any magic perform through a medium such as a wand, staff, stone, or even wandless magic. There are two branches of magic that are permanent -or at least as permanent as magic can be. Can anyone think what branches they are?”

They look among themselves, at some point they had all migrated towards the front desks. Some were sitting on chairs and some actually sat on top of the table Indian style. Some were taking notes and some were just listening to everything eagerly. 

When no one seemed to have an answer Regna made an educational guess, “Wards… runes?”

“Correct Miss Potter, 2 points to Gryffindor,” Professor Flitwick beam at her. “Can you tell me how you got your answer?”

“Well, I thought examples of magic that has been standing for a long time and the first thing that came up in my mind were the wards that surround Diagon Alley that hide the whole shopping distract from muggles and how those wards have been standing for a long time… Wards are created by runes so it would only be logical that runes would be the branch that produces permanent results. You also said ‘or at least as permanent as magic can be’ which fits the description of runes because there are curse breakers that can break wards that have stood for hundreds of years. If you want a permanent effect then it would be best to carve the runes out instead of simply drawing them or tracing them with your wand… Alchemy could be the other branch now that I think about it since it’s similar to transfiguration but gives more permanent results. Unfortunately, I really don’t know much about Alchemy Professor,” Ragna admitted sheepishly, she logically knew she didn’t have to have all of the answers nor should she have all of the answers but that didn’t stop her from feeling disappointed in herself for not having more information.

“Astounding Miss Potter, take 10 points to Gryffindor,” Professor Flitwick was basically bouncing in his feet. “The Headmaster didn’t mention you had previous magical education, none of us thought you did since the Headmaster said you grew in the muggle world,” Professor Flitwick frown slightly.

“I didn’t sir. I found some of my mom’s journals this summer when I was introduced to the wizarding world for the first time. Charms and Runes seemed to be her strongest subjects and… well, I am a fast reader,” Ragna ended lamely with a shrug. 

“Ah, yes, Lily was a bright witch but she did shine brighter in Charms and Runes. She was the smartest witch of her generation but I can see you may give her a run for her money,” Professor Flitwick commented with a bit of sadness. 

Ragna just shrugged her shoulders again awkwardly, for once not sure about what to say. Thankfully her friends didn’t seem to mind that they had trailed off from the topic they had been discussing and had quietly listened instead. 

“Yes, now where were we?” Professor Flitwick clap as he thought what exactly was the question they were trying to answer at the beginning.

“You were going to answer Mandy’s questions about magic vanishing through time and what the founders left,” Ragna piped out helpfully. 

“Of course, of course, well, as you now know -Runes and Alchemy are the two branches that produce permanent magic. Now, it is rumored that the founders each left a room -their personal room you could say. The room everyone hears more often about is Salazar Slytherin’s room, the Chamber of Secrets, but every founder left a room specialized to their needs. Each room was said to have been developed to fit their needs by carving runes in them. Unfortunately, no one has been able to find their location.”

“What about Hogwarts absorbing our magic Professor?” Stephen reminded their Professor of his question.

“If Hogwarts observes our magic does that mean our magic can be stolen?” Dean added another question to Stephen’s original question.

“Oh my, no! Your magic can not simply be stolen,” Professor Flitwick was clearly startled by Dean’s question while the children were taken back by how horrified their Professor look when he heard Dean’s question.

It probably had to do with the fact that they did not grow in the wizarding world and thus were not as attached to their magic as others. It wasn’t that they wanted to lose their magic, but since they grew up not thinking that they had to relied on magic for everything, they were not as horrified by such thought. 

“You see children, every time you do magic you leave a residue. Everyday magic barely leaves a wisp but somethings like apparition leave a bigger residue of magic behind, enough that trained wizards can get a magical signature. A magical signature is unique for every magical person, it fits you perfectly and even though some may come close there will never be identical magical signatures, not even for identical twins. It’s for this reason that magic can not be easily stolen. There are rituals -illegal and dark rituals- that one can perform to transfer magic but the chances of succeeding are very low. For there to be a chance of succeeding both participants most be willingly and have a very _very_ identical magical signature-”

“So our magical signatures are like our blood type!” Dean exclaimed and there were nods in agreements among themselves. 

"More like fingerprints," Hermione added, you could donate blood if you had a similar blood type but no two fingerprints were identical.

“I beg your pardon!” The professor squeaked alarmed. 

“Oh, I am sorry Professor, we were not referring to the blood categories in the magical world -muggleborns, half-bloods, and purebloods. We were referring to the blood types we learned in the muggle world. You see there are two main categories you could say -negative and positive. In each category there are four types, A, B, AB, and O. So you could be A+ or A- blood type or AB+ or AB- blood type, or so on. You are born with a category based on… some factors they test in your blood -which are harmless,” Ragna added hastily at the end to not alarm the poor professor who didn’t know anything about the muggle world. She didn’t go into detail since she didn’t think Professor Flitwick would understand her and she would probably end up confusing him more. 

“Oh my, I didn’t think muggles categories people by blood type too!” 

“Well, your blood type in the muggle world is not that important. It’s mostly important for… healing purposes,” Hermione paused a bit to get the correct term. “Hospitals looked out for people who are O- blood type because O- can be usually given to another patient if there is a need for blood transfusion.”

“AB+ are called universal recipient because people with that blood type can receive the blood of any other type. I am actually AB+,” Dean added to Hermione’s explanation eagerly. “I got to find out when I had to go to the hospital once.”

“Me too! I am AB+,” Oliver commented and they actually high-five each other.

“I am A+,” Mandy commented.

“I don’t know my blood type,” Isobel shrug and there were many more agreements with Isobel from their group since many of them actually didn’t know their blood type. 

“You share blood!” Professor Flitwick squeaked again looking like he was about to faint, bringing their attention back to him again. 

“Only when people need blood,” Terry assured their professor which was actually not that reassuring. In the magical world blood contained power and one did not easily talk about donating blood. 

“Do people in the magical world not donate blood to hospitals? What happens if someone needs blood?” Micheal asked, having observed how their Professor seemed completely freaked out by such an idea.

“There is actually a potion called ‘Blood-Replenishing Potion’ which replenishes blood lost from injuries or other means,” Ragna was the one who answered instead of the Professor.

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat, “Yes, Miss Potter is correct. We have a potion for people who are in need of more blood in their system. In the magical world blood is a sacred thing that is not easily given. You must be careful with your blood because it contains powerful properties. There are dark rituals that wizards could use to control you with your blood. I would not recommend donating your blood in the muggle world either, it’s safer that way.”

Professor Flitwick did not look comfortable with the turn the conversation had taken and he was saved by the bell. Literally, the clock bell in the room chimed to signalize that an hour had gone by and it was lunchtime now.

“Well, students, I do believe that it's lunchtime.”

“Oh but professor…”

“I still have more… ”

“Professor you didn’t answer… "

“But professor you didn’t answer my… ” Complains quickly rose as they realize their time was up. 

“Now, now, children. It’s time for lunch so I can’t answer any more of your questions but all students are welcome to come talk to me during my office hours.” That placated them a bit so they thank him for his time and quickly made their way towards the Great Hall for lunch.

“Look Justin and Wayne are already here!” Dean pointed out pretty loudly making their whole group gained some stares.

He was right, however, Justin and Wayne were already waiting for them at the Ravenclaw table. They didn’t look comfortable, in fact -they looked awkward and intimidated sitting at the very edge of the table but when they saw their whole group they relaxed and even smile back when Ragna, Dean, and Oliver waved at them as they got closer. 

“Scooch over,” Ragna told them so she could sit on the edge not only because she liked sitting at the very end but also so they would move towards the middle of their group so they wouldn’t feel left out since they would be right in the middle of the chaos their whole group was.

“You would not believe what we just learn!” Micheal exclaimed as he took a seat in front of them and launch into an explanation over what happened as they all gather food on their plate and started eating.

While they were having a very enthusiastic conversation about what they had learned the professors were having a similar conversation, except it was about them.

“… This group is a very promising bunch. I can’t wait to see what comes out of them,” Professor Flitwick was telling Professor Sprout quite enthusiastically. 

“It’s too bad most of them won’t be more than low minister employees or they will return to the muggle world since it offers them more opportunities to thrive,” Professor Sprout sighed sadly. They all knew how much muggleborns cling to the wizarding world, wanting to be part of the world they belong to but in the end, most of them left without another choice to make a living and to do something purposeful with their life. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing any time soon,” Professor Flitwick sighed. It wasn’t only hard for muggleborns but half-breeds too -like himself- to make something out of themselves in the wizarding world. 

When he first started to teach it had been hard to get the purebloods to listen to him. Now after teaching many generations of purebloods he found it easier since he had proven that he knew what he was doing -his title of ‘dueling champion’ also helped gain the respect of his pureblood students. 

Not all purebloods gave him trouble though, that would not be fair for his other students who were pureblood and were always respectful towards him. But those who were not trouble were the ones that didn’t have the power to make his life difficult anyway. It was students like Bellatrix Black, Augusta Rosier now Longbottom, and more recently in the badge of current first years Draco Malfoy and Theodor Nott that he had to look out for.

There were others that could be a bit difficult but those two stood out since their families had the most power to kick him out of Hogwarts if they desire too and they were notorious for looking down on anyone that wasn’t pureblood. He would have to be careful when dealing with those students but it was something he was used to.

* * *

By Friday morning their group got used to a schedule of sorts. Gryffindors would eat breakfast and lunch at the Ravenclaw table with their Ravenclaw friends. Justin and Wayne would join them during lunch and at dinner, they would all eat at their perspective tables. 

Another student joined their group too -Sally Smith. It was actually Lily who brought Sally into the group. Apparently, she didn’t really click with the other girls in their dorm, and at some point, they started talking to one another and Lily ended up asking her if she wanted to join them for lunch at the Ravenclaw table. 

It had surprised many when Lily arrived at the table with a nervous and shy Sally behind her. Lily was usually timid so for her to bring someone with her without warning the group beforehand was surprising. It had made them paused for a second before Ragna was the first one to shake off her surprise and welcome Sally into their gang, the others following her lead.

They also started researching more about the questions they had about magic after their conversation with Professor Flitwick. Not everyone was a researcher though so there were some who did some deeper research than others. 

That was why Dean, Oliver, Sally, Lily, Wayne, and Isobel were in charge of reading up basic bedtime stories. While they all grew up hearing the original princess stories like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and other children's storybooks they had no idea what wizarding children grew up hearing about so they wanted to learn about it in order to compare the two worlds. They wanted to know what the magical version of the boogeyman was basically. 

Will, Hermione, Justin, Stephen, Mandy, Terry, Micheal, and Ragna were in charge of the more complicated research, and truthfully the more boring too. The books they had to read were pretty dry but thankfully none of them struggle too much to read dry textbooks. 

Whatever they found they would share with the whole group during lunch. They were all disappointed that the librarian did not tolerate any noise in the library so they couldn’t discuss it right away -not that they found themselves all in the library at the same time since they had a different schedule and they also had homework to worry about.

Ragna preferred to work by herself at her own paste so she separated herself from the group at some periods during the day. She did find a spell to make her quill write what she dictates so taking notes and doing homework became way faster. She always completed the assignments given to her that same day and it usually took her a few couple of minutes, not even half-an-hour to complete her homework. The rest of her free time was spend writing more research notes on her mother’s journal that mostly had to do with runes and charms, doing some in-depth research about the magical world in general like the rest of her friends, and making future notes for all of her classes so that she could use them for the end of the year exam. 

The week had gone pretty smoothly so it was no wonder that something had to go wrong to balance the week out. 

Potions class for Gryffindors and Slytherins first year students took place in the cold and depressing dungeons. By the time Gryffindors arrived the Slytherins had already been in the room and were preparing themselves for the class.

The Gryffindor students were all quick to make their way towards the back of the room and find a place to sit up their things. No Gryffindor was eager to sit at the front of the room for the class that was rumor to be the worst class for everyone not in Slytherin. They had already heard horrid stories about the Head of Slytherin House and how he always favor the snakes over any other students. They had also heard that Professor Snape seemed to particularly despite the Gryffindors so for once the lions were intimidated since they knew they were in enemy territory. 

They were all sitting quietly, the tension between the two groups rising the longer they sat in the same room without supervision when Professor Snape came rushing in.

“There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantation in this class. As such, I don’t expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those selected few-” here Professor Snape cast a look at his Slytherins “-who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death… as long as you don’t turn out a bunch of dunderheads.”

Ragna personally liked his speech, Professor Snape knew how to capture his students’ attention just like Professor McGonagall but he could have decided to forgo the last part of his speech. It made him look less professional in Ragna’s eyes.

He looked around the room until his gaze landed on her -an emotion pass through his eyes before Ragna could really catch it- before a sneer took over his face, “Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Ragna tilted her head slightly which was a habit of hers when she was a bit puzzled. Her friends who already had Potions with Professor Snape had warned them about him so they had all prepared for whatever the professor threw at them, not to mention she read ahead do to her mother’s research on potions. Her mother was not a prodigy at potions like she was at Charms and Runes but Ragna knew her mother was also interested in that branch of magic based on her notes. 

“Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death, sir.” Ragna answer just before Professor Snape could snap at her for taking too long to answer. It was a potion they would not brew until sixth year, it made Ragna wonder why the professor thought a first year would know the answer to his question. Well, Hermione knew it based on the fact that she raised her hand but Hermione didn’t really count as a normal first year -neither did Ragna for that matter.

“And where would I find bezoar?” Professor Snape asked, this time less heatedly but just as sternly. 

“In the stomach of a goat Professor,” Ragna answered politely. She didn’t think he would find it funny if she said in his potion cupboard, Professor Snape didn’t look like the type to like jokes when expecting a serious answer.

“Last question, what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?”

“Nothing but their name, sir. They are the same plant which also goes by the name aconite,” Ragna answered automatically while her mind was thinking 100 miles per minute. 

**'** _Aunt Petunia mention a boy -Snape she said, I am sure that is what she said. Could it be the same Snape? Is Professor Snape the same boy she was talking about? Were mom and Professor Snape friends? It would make sense based on his first question._

**'** _Asphodel is a type of Lily meaning ‘my regrets follow you to the grave’ and wormwood means ‘absence’ and it also typically symbolized bitter sorrow. Was that his way of offering his condolences for my mom’s death? It would make sense if they were actually childhood friends. But why did he never visit? Maybe I am reading too much into his question. Just because they have the same name doesn’t mean Professor Snape and mom were friends... or that they knew each other. Maybe Aunt Petunia got the name wrong or I could have heard it wrong since she was angrily murmuring at that time when she mentioned it._

**'** _Just because Aunt Petunia called him a freak too doesn’t mean he was a wizard. Maybe my mom befriended a muggle boy name Snape who did not like Aunt Petunia so she refers to him as a freak, after all, everyone that doesn’t fit her little description is a freak to her. I mean I— wait what?_ **'**

Ragna pause in her mental rant as she realized there was a weird echo to her word in her own mind and felt a pressure in her head. Her first reaction was to move her head but she couldn’t! -instead, she seemed to be locked in an eye contest with Professor Snape. 

**'** _No way! Can wizards read minds? Is Professor Snape reading my mind? HELLO PROFESSOR SNAPE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!_ **'**

Whatever connect they had going on broke and Professor Snape gave a small wince as he looked away from her that most students didn’t catch -but Ragna did. To her, that was a point to her theory that -yes, her Professor was actually reading her mind. 

“Well, why aren’t you writing this down!” Professor Snape demanded and students scramble to write down the answers. It made Ragna realize that time perspective had been different in her mind than outside her mind. It had felt longer for her but little time had passed in actuality. 

“You will be brewing the Boil-Cure potion, turn to page 8 and begin!” 

Without much more instructions Professor Snape went through a door which Ragna guessed led to his office and a minute later he return without anything in his hands. She thought maybe she had been too loud when she talked to him in her mind and it probably gave him a headache. 

It was only as she started setting up all of the ingredients she would need that the impact of someone reading her mind hit her. If someone read her mind they could read her thoughts -private thoughts! She didn’t want anyone going through her mind and now she was wondering if the headaches she got in Defense Class were because Professor Quirrell was reading her mind without her noticing. 

She frowned thoughtfully as she worked in her potions, the cure for boils was not the most difficult potion out there. She did whisper to Will and Dean once in a while when she saw that they were about to mess their potion. The girls seemed to actually be better at potions than the boys but she wasn’t sure if that was because they were more observant on the details or not. 

“No, first you have to take the cauldron off the fire before adding the porcupine quills, otherwise the cauldron will melt and create boils instead of curing them,” Ragna told them quietly just when there was an explosion on the other side of the room but on the back part meaning it was a Gryffindor that exploded their cauldron. 

“Idiot boy! You have to take the cauldron off the fire before adding the porcupine quills -can’t you read!” Professor Snape snap at poor Neville who was covered in his potions and was getting boils all over himself. “Finnigan, take Longbottom to the infirmary. Longbottom you are getting zero for the day and 10 points from Gryffindor.”

Seamus ushered poor Neville away who look like he was going to burst out crying any second. Dean and Will had pale drastically as they witness what exactly would have happened to them if Ragna had not stopped them. 

From then on all of her friends double-check the instructions so that they wouldn’t mess up. They did not want to face Snape’s wrath.

At the in all of them were able to make a passable potion. Dean and Will’s were questionable but at least their potion looked better than Crabbe and Goyle’s potion. Ragna couldn’t help the smile that grace her face as she bottled up her potion and left it in the Professor’s desk among others. 

Hermione’s, Malfoy’s, and Greengrass’s potions were by far the best produce potions in class along with hers. Sally and Lily’s potions were not that bad either. 

“You can go ahead without me, I am just going to finish cleaning,” Ragna told her friends when she saw they hesitated on leaving without her. 

“Alright, we will save you a seat at lunch,” Sally agreed while the others nodded. 

Ragna had purposefully slowed down to pack so she could stay behind to question Professor Snape and when her friends left she pounce on Professor Snape, figuratively speaking of course.

“Professor Snape?”

“Potter, class has been dismissed,” Professor Snape sneered as he turned around to look at her. 

“Professor, did you know my mom by any chance?” Ragna asked in her blunt manner but she purposely wanted to be blunt this time to catch Professor Snape off guard. 

“No, now leave,” Professor Snape answer curtly but he hesitated for a moment, and pain flashed through his eyes for a second when she asked him, which gave her the real answer -Professor Snape did know her mother. If her memory hurt him then that indicates that they have been close. 

“But Professor, my aunt said-” Well, people couldn’t say Ragna wasn’t stubborn.

“I don’t care what your aunt said, Potter. Now leave or I will take 20 points from Gryffindor for pestering a professor and not listening to orders.”

Even though Ragna would deny it for the rest of her life, she pouted. She huff and sulkily made her way towards the Great Hall but she didn’t understand what the big problem was -she knew Professor Snape knew her mom and Professor Snape knew that she knew that he knew her mom even though he denied it. Ragna didn’t understand why they had to go in circles.

She actually sulked through her whole lunch, stabbing her broccoli with more force than necessary and murmuring angrily under her breath about stupid overgrown bats. Her friends backed off after they asked and she told them that it wasn’t that important and that she would be fine by the time lunch ended. 

True to her words she had taken all of her exasperation on her poor broccoli and was back to her regular self by the end of lunch. They had the afternoon free so in a true Ravenclaw fashion, Terry suggested they work together on their homework.

“But all we do is study and work,” Dean whined.

“You are right Dean,” Ragna agreed with him before anyone else could speak. Most of their group members actually enjoy reading and doing research and thought that it was fun but some of her other friends were not really bookworms so she could understand where Dean was coming from. 

“So how about we make a deal, we use this afternoon to finish any homework we have and if we actually have time left I can teach you some useful spells.” Ragna had actually thought about that for a while now. She could protect herself pretty well but her friends didn’t really know as many spells as she did to protect themselves. “Plus, we will use the weekend to relax, we can explore the castle Saturday and maybe even try to make a map to help us navigate the school grounds -you are good at drawing aren’t you? We could also play a pickup game of football and maybe some wizarding and muggle games if anyone has some?”

“I am in!”

“Me too!

“Count me in!”

“I have some board games!”

“I bought some wizarding games!”

“I can bring a chess set!”

“We should make a picnic out of it!”

“Oh, yes! A picnic sounds amazing!”

Her idea seemed to be liked by everyone as they exchange ideas but of course, Hermione had to point something out, “Where are we going to work on our homework? Madam Pince doesn’t like any noise in the library.”

“We could use an abandoned classroom,” Stephen suggested.

“Great idea, there are many of those around. We could probably find one near the library in case we realize we need to check out a book to help us finish our homework,” Micheal pointed out.

“It’s settled then, let’s go.”

Together they all grab their things and headed towards the direction of the library. Their group seemed to be in high spirits as they poke their heads through different doors to see if they found an adequate room where they could work. 

“This one!” Justin declared after taking a peek inside. 

“It’s quite dusty,” Isobel wrinkle her nose as they all entered. 

“Leave that to me,” Ragna cheerfully announced as she pulled her wand out and with a few flicks and taps all of the dust was gone from the room, torches were lit all around the room making it much brighter, the wooden chairs were transfigure into more comfy ones, the room felt warmer, a carpet appeared beneath the table and chairs, and a whiteboard appeared on one side of a wall. 

“You're like our personal fairy godmother!” Oliver exclaimed.

“Thanks! -Wait, what!” Ragna seemed torn between taking it as a compliment or as an insult and it made the others laugh as she struggled to decide. In the end, she huffed and let it go. 

“Ooh, this is comfy,” Isobel commented as she had taken her shoes off to feel the carpet. 

“Take your shoes off, we don’t want to get the carpet dirty,” Mandy ordered the rest of them after she felt how snug the carpet felt, the others just shrug and took their shoes off without complaints. 

“Hey Ragna, can you teach us some of the magic you perform just now? It could come in handy,” Lily asked as everyone took a seat.

“Actually, I was planning on teaching you some defense spells first. I can teach some simple house cleaning spells later if you want.”

“Why defense spells?” Wayne asked as everyone started to pull their homework assignments and books.

“I think it’s more important that you can defend yourself in case someone decides to pick on you.”

Many understood what she meant, even though they had all tried to stay away from the Slytherins in general that was not always the case. Justin and Wayne had told the rest how a muggleborn Hufflepuff -Megan Jones- had accidentally caught the attention of Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode by bumping into them by accident and even though Megan had apologized to them, the two Slytherin girls did not let the accident go so easily and made a whole big deal about it while insulting Megan and all muggleborns in general. 

Ever since that accident, there had been tension between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin first years. It was more like Malfoy’s gang that included Parkinson and Bulstrode vs the Hufflepuff first years. Thankfully those two Houses didn’t share many classes together. Unfortunately, Gryffindor and Slytherin did share many classes together so Ragna knew it was only time before there was a conflict between the two. 

“So what do you want to work on first?”

“Potion assignment?” Terry suggested and they all agreed.

Ragna slowed down and pretended to be on the same level of intelligence as her friends. She didn’t really like telling people about her abnormal intelligence and ability -it made her a freak among freaks, not that she meant to offend her friends. 

They got quickly through their potion assignment and Ragna had nothing else to work on. She had finished every other homework her professors had assigned so instead she just helped the rest out since she was already finished. 

They quickly went through their assignments and they didn’t even have to get a book from the library since they all had some sort of book check-out that helped them. 

It was clear that each of them had a class they excel at with a few exceptions that seemed to excel in all classes. Will and Sally excel in Herbology. Micheal, Justin, and Stephen at Transfiguration. Dean and Oliver at Charms. Wayne and Mandy at Defense. Lily at History of Magic. Isobel at Astronomy. Hermione, Ragna, and Terry excelled in all of their classes, including Potions so together they cover all of their classes. 

“So what are we learning today Professor Potter?” Stephen teased as they all put their homework away.

“Well today, my pupils, I will be teaching you the Bat-Bogey hex, the Instant Scalping hex, the Knee-Reversal hex, the Tickling hex, the Tail-growing hex, and a shield to help deflect the most basic hexes,” Ragna informed them dramatically for the fun of it.

“Isn’t that a lot of hexes?”

“We will be learning more spells today than we have done all week in class.”

“Which one are we starting with?”

“Alright, alright, calm down you lot. We will start with the easiest one, the Tickling hex,” Ragna calmed them down before continuing on. “What you must know is that most hexes and even jinxes only require a flick of the wand. What is more important is the intent behind your spell. The incantation is Titillando… now who wants to go first?”

“I will go first!” Dean volunteered cheerfully. 

“Great, who wants to be tickle?”

“I will go,” Will volunteer reluctantly.

Ragna positioned them facing each other and then turn to Dean to address him. “What I need you to do is flick your wand up, just like I am doing,” Ragna demonstrated first. “Now I need you to repeat after me, Titillando.”

“Ti- Titillando, Titillando,” Dean repeated dutifully.

“Okay, give it a try,” Ragna encourage.

“Titillando!” Dean yelled with a sharp flick up with his wand but nothing happened.

“Great!” Ragna cheered getting incredulous looks from everyone in the room.

“Nothing happened,” Dean stated, a bit irritated and hurt thinking that she was making fun of him. 

“But you got everything right, you got the flick and the incantation right on point. All you need to add -is intention. I am sorry Dean but I knew you were not going to get it right on the first try because you were nervous about failing but now that you have failed you have nothing to be nervous about since the worst that could happened already did.”

Begrudgingly Dean understood what she meant. He didn’t feel nervous anymore because he had already failed and the others in the room understood too. 

“Now Dean, I need you to close your eyes and imagine yourself just a couple of feet away from first-class tickets to your favorite team. You tried to grab them but the more you walk the further you get from them. They are first-class tickets to your favorite team with V.I.P. passes, you _really_ want them… Now Dean I need you to focus on your feelings -your determination. Remember how you feel right now, how you yearn for those tickets, your desire to have them. Remember those feelings… and open your eyes now.”

The others were just observing the whole process with confused expressions. Dean had done as Ragna had asked but he himself felt confused about what he just did had anything to do with the tickling hex. 

“Now I need you to close your eyes again and imagine Will. Imagine Will laughing, tears running down his face from laughing so hard, his face all red. Picture Will clutching his side as he laughs… do you have a clear picture?” Dean just nodded not opening his eyes. “Alright, memorize it and then open your eyes.”

“Now what?” Dean asked once he opened his eyes.

“Now you have to combine your determination with the imagine of Will laughing. When you try the tickling hex I need you to gather that determination you previous felt but imagine Will laughing just like you just did… try it and we will see if it works.”

Dean nodded firmly before turning to face Will, the confusion in the rest of everyone’s face had cleared away with her last explanation. They all watch Dean intently but Dean paid them no attention. 

“Titillando!” Dean cried out and this time a light left his wand, hitting Will just in the corner of his shoulder -almost missing him, but it did the trick and Will started laughing, clutching his stomach. 

“We will work on your aiming in the future,” Ragna teased while their other friends cheered for Dean who was smiling like a fool as he watched Will laugh his arse off. 

“Finite,” Ragna called out with a sharp horizontal motion of her wand, stopping Will’s laughter. 

“You… really… wanted… those… tickets,” Will joked in between his gasps of air as he stopped laughing, his comment gain snorts and laugher from their group while Dean blushed a bit pink, taking the joke in all good fun. 

After seeing Dean succeed everyone was eager to try themselves so they pair up. There was an even number of them, except that Ragna was not participating since she was overseeing them but Dean had gone so he allowed Sally to paired up with Will, and instead he went around the room helping the others just like Ragna. 

In no time everyone had cast the spell successfully, some getting ambitious and tried to cast ‘finite’ successfully too. Some actually got them after a few tries while other didn’t get it until almost the end of the lesson.

“Alright, guys, great casting,” Ragna congratulated them. “Now, what I want you to do is bring your voices down as you cast. We think that if we shout the spell our chances are higher of getting it right but that is not true. It’s your will that determines if the spell comes out, if words were that important silent casting would be impossible but by the time we become full train wizards and witches we are expected to do silent casting like the majority of the population… So what I need you to try is lowering your voice a little bit every time you cast, keep the same image in your mind, and keep your determination -Dean do you mind?” Ragna asked the boy next to him as she brought her wand out.

“Go ahead,” Dean agreed backing up.

“I will demonstrate how I lower by voice each time I cast so I may not give you too much time to rest,” Ragna warned him but Dean nodded even though he looked nervous. 

“Titillando!” Ragna shouted and quickly undid the spell silently before casting it again, this time speaking loudly but not really shouting, and undid the spell silently. She cast the tickling hex again this time using her normal voice volume before undoing it and then casting it again this time in a harsh whisper before undoing it and casting it again this time her mouth moved and she may have said the words but none of the others could hear before she undid it and she cast it one last time this time her lips press together so she didn’t pronounce the incantation and undoing it silently seconds later.

“You okay Dean?” Ragna asked with concern but Dean waved her off as he caught his breath. “So, any questions?” She asked as she turn to look at the others only to have them looking at her like she had grown another eye… and another arm -and maybe her skin had turned purple too. But seeing that she had turn to look at them they snap out of it and shook their heads.

“Alright, give it a try then,” Ragna encourage them and some look hesitantly while others look determine. 

It was not surprising to Ragna that those who looked hesitantly had taken longer to get the spell working with only a whisper. No one was completely able to cast the spell silently but many barely whisper the incantation and got it right. Since she had used Dean she thought it only fair that he practiced on her since she knew he mastered the ‘finite’ spell too. 

The Instant Scalping hex was the second easiest hex she was going to teach them so that was next. The only problem she had at first was finding a way they could practice it since if they practice it on each other they would be all bold and the only way to get their hair back was through a potion they did not have at hand. 

In the end, she was able to transfigure the chairs into mannequins, and then she ripped some paper from her journal (since it was never-ending she was not worried about running out of pages) and transfigure them into hair. Transfiguration was easier for her than conjuring mannequins with hair out of thin air. 

They basically went through the same procedure of first getting the spell right and then of them trying to cast it more quietly. This time Ragna added another requirement.

“Alright, so we are going to measure your speed too. The mannequin that turns green means it got hit first, when you hear the bells-“ Ragna waved her wand to make the sound of the bells “-you hex away. Right now they are going to be practice runs but we are going to have a final round and to make things interesting and to motivate you, the winner can choose between getting a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans or getting me to do their homework for a week -for only one class.”

Hermione was the only one that looked disapprovingly while the others whisper excitedly among themselves. 

“Alright, ready, set, go!” Ragna let the bell sounds off and they cast away. Some forgot about casting quietly and shouted but it was those that remembered to cast quietly that were faster. 

Seeing that, the next round those that shouted out the incantation at first remember to cast it quietly. Hermione was the one to win the first round, then Terry took her place, after Terry it was Micheal. Justin and Isobel were able to cast Micheal out of first place before he return back to first place again. 

They went about 10 rounds in which Micheal won 5 of them before Ragna called the final found and the one that counted. To be fair even Ragna was surprised that Stephen won the final round because everyone thought it was going to be Micheal. Everyone congratulate him though... even Micheal.

After they were finished with their lesson and heading towards the Great Hall to eat dinner Stephen quietly told Ragna he wanted the second option of his price and apparently he didn’t want to do his history homework. Stephen just like most of the Hogwarts students decided History was a waste of space and didn’t care much for it. 

After that hex was done Ragna decided on teaching them the tail-growing hex and by then they were more conscious about their volume and speed. The tail-growing hex was also practice in the mannequins since no one in particularly wanted to feel a tail growing in their behind and having to bring their pants down. 

The Bat-bogey hex went next and with it Ragna made them practice their aim. For the Bat-bogey hex to work they had to aimed for the nose. Unfortunately for them, they had to practice on each other. By the time everyone had mastered that hex the skin around their nose was all red due to the slapping of the bats’ wings. Ragna was more attentive and made sure to end the hex immediately unlike the tickling hex because the bat-bogey hex was more painful. 

The last hex she taught them was the knee-reversal hex, they couldn’t practice it on each other because they could not simply ‘finite’ it away. If they tried it on themselves they would all have to go to the infirmary to get fixed. That was why Ragna charmed the mannequins to look more realistic, at least from their knees down. 

It took them longer to get it right and that was because it went against what they knew. The knee could not simply switch from the front of the leg to the back. Ragna told them to imagine it with details -the bone, muscles, veins, arteries, and nerves all twisting to the back and the back twisting to the front, she even drew put a picture of the anatomy of the knee up so that they could see it. That was what helped Ragna master that hex after-all. 

However, that didn’t work for everyone. Hermione, Terry, Micheal, Dean, and Will all seemed to master it that way but the others were still struggling. The five of them were trying to help the others while Ragna frown as she tried to find what was wrong.

**'** _How do the other kids learn that hex without the knowledge of the human anatomy? Pureblood kids don’t get health class like us in the muggle world so why don’t they struggle?… They probably just visualize the knee twisting backwards -bringing the rest of their lower leg and foot along. Instead of picturing the blood vessels, muscles, and bones twisting they just visualize the outer appearance. That and their desire for it to work is probably all it takes them. So simplicity is the key here. **'**_

Coming to that conclusion she change her method of teaching the hex and after she simplify the process the others were able to get it after a couple of tries. She was both proud of her friends for accomplishing it and of her for finding a way to teach it to them.

Unfortunately, by the time everyone master the knee-reversal hex Ragna didn’t think it was a good idea to teach them any more magic. They may not feel the exhaustion from casting so much magic but Ragna was sure they would feel it tomorrow morning. At the moment they were only feeling sleepy and hungry so it was a good thing that dinner was only a couple of minutes away. 

As they walked to the Great Hall (after Ragna turn the room they use back to how it look) they were all more quiet and less hyper. They even forgot to sit at their own tables and instead they all sat at the Ravenclaw table and when they found themselves in front of food they realized just how hungry they were. 

That night they mostly ate and barely talked. Even Ragna was feeling the exhaustion of casting a lot of magic. She did charm and transfigured a lot of things in the room and also kept on performing the counter-spell. She didn’t feel as tire as the first night at Hogwarts though and that was probably because the ice she created was more energy-consuming. 

“Let’s go explore tomorrow after lunch,” Ragna suggested to the others, knowing they probably won’t want to get up until lunch with their magical exhaustion. The others were quick to agree and they disperse after that


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the first weekend at Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! I have started school again so updates are going to take even longer -just a warning.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Also, there are some notes at the bottom that may be important... maybe. In case you want to read them too 🙂

_**'** _ _hello **' =**_ thoughts

"Hello" = normal dialogue 

" _ **Hello**_ " = Parseltongue

_ Italics are sometimes used by themselves to empathize a word _

* * *

The next morning Ragna had a lot of time to do as she pleased since even Hermione slept in. She thought they deserve to sleep in after using so much magic so she got ready for the day and headed towards the library and found a corner all of the way in the back, hiding from plain view -not that it mattered since there were not many students in the library at the time she arrived. 

In total, she had five uninterrupted hours even though she slept in (waking up at 6:30 was sleeping in for her). Maybe five hours would not be enough for most people to finish one book but Ragna actually read 26 books from start to finish and even took notes since it was easier after she could dictate the quill. 

She brushed up on her potion knowledge along with her Herbology since the two subjects did relate. She knew, in theory, she had cover all the material she needed to know for the seven school years, all she needed was to put it to practice -she would only admit it in her mind that she wanted to impress Professor Snape. 

She started looking into Alchemy after the Charm accident and took a bit of time to further her knowledge in that branch of magic. She also looked further into runes and she felt confident she was ready to start practicing linking runes together.

She finished taking notes for history class for the rest of the first year, second year, third year, and fourth year. The rest of the time she read fiction -the fiction the wizarding world came up with. 

She had a relaxing morning that she wished she could have for the rest of her life. Back in the muggle world, she would be woken up early to make breakfast and start doing chorus that took her all morning, right until she had to work on lunch and after lunch, she had to wash the dishes, and then she was finally left alone before she had to make dinner (that was if her Aunt Petunia did give her the task of making pies or other desserts she would later show off to other neighbors even though she didn’t make them). 

“Hey, guys!” Ragna greeted her friends cheerfully as she took a seat at the Ravenclaw table as usual and got greetings back -some more awake than others. 

“Where were you?” Hermione asked, a bit more sharply than Ragna expected and it brought her by surprise but she took it in stride. 

“In the library.”

“I didn’t see you there,” there may be some accusation in her tone but Ragna ignored it.

“I found a corner in the back of the library that hid me pretty well,” Ragna shrug. 

“So where are we exploring first?” Terry cut in loudly before Hermione could do more than open her mouth. 

“I was thinking the dungeons,” Ragna answer immediately. 

“The dungeons? Why?” Dean was not the only one who was giving her a look that clearly questioned her sanity. 

She shrugged again before she answered, “We live in a castle, and in medieval times castles were built with dungeons to keep prisoners so I am hoping we will find some prisoner cells… do any of you have a camera? We could take picture of us inside and you can send it to your parents.”

“That would be wicked,” Dean jump into the idea.

“I have a camera,” Justin volunteered.

“That works out perfectly since the Hufflepuff dorms are in the basement too, right?” Micheal asked.

“We are not telling you the entrance of our common room,” Wayne replied drily since Micheal had been trying to trick Justin and Wayne into telling them where the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room was located. 

Everyone in their group knew where the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw common room entrances were because their main protection were the passwords (in Gryffindor’s case) and the riddles (in Ravenclaw’s case) that change often.

The Hufflepuff common room entrance was protected by secrecy. They didn’t have a password that changed so their only advantage was to keep their entrance a secret. The Slytherins had both protections -the secrecy and passwords that change so often because -yes, Salazar Slytherin was a paranoid bastard. 

Micheal just smirked, “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

* * *

“We haven’t found anything, this is boring,” Oliver whined when they had just started their search for secret pathways, gaining incredulous looks from the other members of the group. 

“We just started looking Oliver,” Mandy replied exasperated. 

“How exactly are we going to find secret passageways? Do we look behind paintings?”

“Maybe some passageways open like the entrance to Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron. We just have to find the right brick.”

“We can’t go knocking on every brick!” 

As her friends started to bicker with one another Ragna started to randomly knocking on bricks. Her mind was far away but her hands kept on tapping bricks not minding walking without a destination in mind unlike some of her other friends. 

Instead of taking the path to their potion classroom, they veer off. Thankfully they didn’t encounter anyone on their path which Ragna thought meant the Slytherin common room was not in the direction they were walking. 

Seeing as she was knocking on bricks some of her other friends started to do so while some scoff not believing that they would find something. Ragna didn’t think so either, she really didn’t. Which was why she was surprised when she absentmindedly put her hand on a brick only for her hand to go **through** the wall making her off-balance and making her fall with an ‘ouf’ and for her friends to freak out when the upper part of her body disappear through the wall while the lower part was still visible for all of them.

“Ragna!” Various voices called out in panic as they all surrounded the lower part of their friend. Some jump in fright as her legs started to move but they sighed in relief when Ragna got up with no part of her body going through the wall.

“I am alright,” Ragna assured her friends. “I couldn’t really see my surroundings but I am pretty sure it’s a tunnel,” Ragna gestures to the wall half of herself had gone through.

“Wicked, let’s check it out.” Oliver didn’t wait for someone to stop him and put his hands on the wall and when he saw they actually went through he continues with the rest of his body. 

“Er… who is next?” Ragna asks unsurely as she steps aside.

“I will go,” Terry volunteers.

“Lit up your wand if it’s dark,” Ragna suggests before Terry walks through. 

One by one they all walked through the wall and by the time Ragna went through the tunnel (she had guessed right) she didn’t have to lit up her wand since all of her friends were doing it. 

The tunnel was actually pretty wide and since they were pretty small, they had enough space for three of them to walked side by side at once. 

“Who wants to tell a scary story?” Stephen asked jokingly since the passage was spooking them a bit.

Well, not all of them.

“I will! I will!" Micheal volunteer, not at all scared.

“…Sure enough each name was for a missing person-”

“Dead end up ahead,” Justin announces interrupting Micheal’s scary story that actually ended up being not scary but funny just because of how hard he was trying to make it scary. 

At Justin’s announcement, they all looked ahead of them, and sure enough, it did look like a dead end but as they got closer they realize that the brick walls they were actually looking at were from the wall opposite side of the wall they were coming through and that there was a hall in between the walls. So basically their wall was see-through. 

“Wait,” Terry called out before Oliver could step through the wall. “Do you hear that?”

Everyone tilted their head as they tried to hear whatever Terry had heard and it was only a few seconds before they heard it. Voices.

“Do you think its students?” 

“Slytherins mostly likely since it's the dungeons.”

“Sssshhhh,” Isobel hiss at them. “Stop talking, we don’t know if they can hear us.”

She did have a point so they all shut their mouth and waited for the students to appear which they did seconds later. It was three Slytherin girls who appeared to be in their fourth year at most. 

The group of 14 students watched as the three students came to a stop at a bare wall and one of them said ‘Pureblood’ and the wall seemed to fold on itself just like the entrance to Diagon Alley did and the three girls pass through.

“No way!” Oliver exclaimed gleefully after what they saw.

“We found the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room!”

“We also know their password!”

“It’s our lucky day or what?!”

“I can’t believe they would use ‘Pureblood’ as their password, it’s so obvious.”

As her friends eager talked about what they had just witness Ragna turned to look at Dean who was beside her. “Is the map coming along find?” She asked since Dean was in charge of outlining their footsteps today to start creating their map of Hogwarts.

“It’s brilliant, our first expedition and we found the Slytherin common room!” Dean seemed to be as enthusiastic just like the rest of them. 

“Alright, let's get moving,” Oliver declares before Ragna could reply and one by one they all walked through the wall.

“Come on,” Ragna whispers urgently at her friends as she ushered them further away from the Slytherin common room entrance.

“What’s the urgency Ragna?” Sally wonder.

“We don’t know when a Slytherin student is going to come out through the door, it’s best if we get as further away from here as possible,” Ragna explained and realization dawn in everyone else’s faces as they hurried away from the hall they had come out from.

They hurried away and only once they knew they did not risk being heard they slow down and started talking again but remember to keep their voices down anyway. 

“Look for any snake carvings or decorations,” Ragna suggested as they continue to walk further into the unknown.

“Why?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Salazar Slytherin was fond of snakes and could speak to them so maybe we can find a secret passage if we find a snake,” Ragna explained.

Her friends nodded in understanding and set to work. The deeper they walked through the dungeons the darker it was becoming.

“Should we continue on?” Lily asked nervously as once again they lit up their wands since it got to the point it was completely dark, this time Ragna produce a light with her wand too.

“Look I think I found the prisoner cells!” Mandy shouted excitedly seconds after Lily asked her question from further inside the dungeons. 

They all follow her voice around the corner and found a wooden door already halfway open leading to stairs where Mandy was already a few steps down. Excitedly and a bit frighten they all started walking down the crooked even stone steps that seemed to slowly be falling apart. 

“Careful,” Ragna caution as she pulls Will back by his shirt just in time to stop him from slipping off the edge of the floor. They were not walking on the stairs anymore but Ragna wagger the room they were in was two levels and they were currently in the second level. “Wait, stop walking.”

Everyone immediately froze in their place. “Let me see if I can lit up the room brighter so we can see where we are going.”

She let the light at the tip of her wand die and then she pointed her wand up to the ceiling and uttered, “Lumos Maximas!” 

The ball of light that left her wand was about the size of a basketball and it shone brightly that they all flinch and cover their eyes as they were not used to the brightest after walking for who knows how long in darkness with barely any light. The spell did its purpose however as they were able to have a better look at their surroundings and it was just in time to see Stephen, Lily, Sally, and Oliver were just a few steps away from falling off the edge of the second floor of the prison cells room.

“Stephen, Lily, Oliver, Sally, moved away from the edge,” Isobel warned their friends who took the advice and quickly moved away. 

The room they found themselves in was clearly where prisoners were kept. It was two levels with two cells just further in front of them before they turn the corner to the right and there were 4 more prisoner cells. 

The room had an open floor plan so they could see the top and bottom prisoner cells. As they walked down the slope they got to the bottom and found 13 prisoner cells. Two opposite walls held four cells and another wall horizontal of the first two and just above where they had just walked were five other prisoner cells.

In the middle of the room, there were chains falling and Ragna could just speculate at their purpose… and be glad she would never find out what they were used for.

“There are actually some torches in the room, let's lit them up,” Terry suggested, and quickly those who knew the fire spell set to work. 

With the torches lit up they didn’t need to lit the room with their wand so they let the light fade off just as Ragna also cancel her spell. 

“Alright, so who is going first?” Justin asked nervously as he held his camera in his hands. 

“Just let me make sure that there is nothing magical about the cells,” Ragna told them before someone could volunteer. Ragna checked to see if she could detect any spells or see if there were any runes carved but she found none in any of the cells in the bottom. While her friends took turns getting their picture taken she took a look at the cells on the second floor and found magic in them. 

She didn’t know exactly what spells or magic was cast in them but it was enough for her to know to stay away from those cells. She let her friends know too and finally got her picture taken inside a cell. Her friends also explore the room and she knew that while a major part of them was glad they didn’t find any skeletons there was a small part of them that was disappointed, after all -she felt the same way.

“Ragna I found a snake!” Hermione exclaimed excitedly from across the room and quickly everyone gathered around her to see what she was talking about. 

“Could that even be considered a snake?” Micheal asked as he frowned at the blank wall of bricks trying to decide if it was actually a snake or just a thick concrete line that ran in between the bricks.

“It probably used to be a carving of a snake but with time it started to look like… well, a think line of concrete?” Terry ended unsurely. 

“What do you think?” Hermione turns to ask Ragna eagerly.

“I think there is only one way to find out,” Ragna answer and she concentrated on a snake imagine in her mind.

“ ** _Salazar Slytherin_** ,” Ragna tried first but nothing happened except for her friends looked at her like she had lost her mind. “ ** _Parselmouth… parseltongue… snake… snakes…disappear… transparent…open_**.” Ragna tried different words and touch the wall to see if anything had changed but it wasn’t until she utters the last word that the bricks started to fold on themselves and a hole appeared on the wall. A dark hole.

“What was that?” Wayne asked freaked out and he didn’t appear to be the only one.

“That was me speaking parseltongue, the snake language that Salazar Slytherin and I seem to have in common. Don’t tell anyone though because the wizarding world seems to be frightened of the gift and they things it's a sign of a dark witch or wizard.”

“Why?” Hermione couldn’t help but ask, always eager for new information.

“Mainly because infamous wizards spoke the language -well, only two- Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort and both of them turn out to be dark wizards.”

“But that makes no sense,” Hermione huff, not seeing why it would be considered dark.

“I think it’s cool even though it sounds a bit creepy,” Stephen told Ragna honestly.

“Thanks, Stephen,” Ragna shot the boy a smile, amused by his blunt honesty.

“When did you realize you could talk to snakes?” Isobel asked curiously.

“I was eight when I had my first conversation with a snake, it was a normal garden snake.”

“Wicked!”

“Guys sorry to interrupt but what are we going to do about the open hole on the wall?” Mandy brought them back their main priority.

“I think we should trace our steps back,” Wayne offered immediately his opinion.

“I think we should continue, we have obviously hit the jackpot,” Dean encounters more than excited to continue discovering things and adding more to their map.

Those two comments seemed to be the cue for arguments to start flying between them. Justin, Wayne, Lily, Sally, and Will didn’t want to continue on. Terry, Micheal, Dean, Stephen, and Oliver wanted to continue on. Isobel, Mandy, and Hermione were unsure about what to do while Ragna kept her opinion to herself. 

The argument went on for a while until Justin bargain a deal that they could not resist denying. Justin promised to show them the kitchens if they went back now. Wayne grumbled a bit about Justin giving away the location of the kitchen which was told to every Hufflepuff since their common room was very close to it but he wasn’t that upset about it since it got him off from having to go through another dark spooky tunnel. 

Carefully they retrace their steps until they found themselves in a brighter part of the dungeons that inform them that they were getting closer to the Slytherin common room. Dean’s map actually came in handy as many times they were not sure which turn they had taken and while Ragna could have easily led them back she let Dean get the attention since he worked hard on the map.

They were lucky since they were not seen by anyone as they left the dungeons and cross the Great Hall and made their way back to the dungeons but on the opposite side. While both Hufflepuff and Slytherin had their common rooms underground they were at completely opposite sides of the castle. 

“So do you tap a certain fruit?” Stephen asked as they came to a stop in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit on the wall. 

“Close but not quite correct. You actually have to tickle the pear,” Wayne answers, demonstrating it for them. 

When the portrait swung open they all walked into the room and immediately froze at the sight that expected them… well, everyone except Wayne and Justin who knew what to expect because they had been there before.

The kitchen was a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with five tables identical to the one in the Great Hall above; they were also in the exact same position. There were large quantities of pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, presumably on counter-tops or stoves, and a large brick fireplace at the other end of the hall from the door. 

That wasn’t what stopped them in their track though, it was the small creatures that stood about 3 1/2 feet high with big eyes and bat-like ears buzzing around the large spacious kitchen that froze them momentarily. 

“I wish I was a Hufflepuff, I could come down here for a late-night snack without a lot of trouble,” Ragna couldn’t help but sigh regretfully as she imagines coming down in her comfy pj's to sit in front of the large brick fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate… especially during winter.

“That is what you are focusing on right now?” Hermione asked incredulously and she wasn’t the only one eyeing Ragna like she had lost it… except Wayne and Justin who were looking smug about Ragna’s comment.

Ragna just shrugs before she turns to Justin and Wayne. “So what exactly are the little creatures around us called?”

“They are called House-elves, the Hufflepuff Prefect told us house-elves are basically wizarding servants in the magical world.”

“Hello Mister Hopkins, Mister Finch-Fletchley, how can Pitts serve you and yous friends?” One of the house-elf approaches them happily. 

“Hi Pitts, er… can we just have some snacks and drinks please,” Justin politely asks and the house-elf nodded eagerly as it to get their drinks and snacks. 

Wayne gesture for them to follow him and they all ended up sitting ironically enough at the Slytherin table. Not everyone had taken a seat on the bench when Hermione was already starting her investigation. 

“Why are they dress like that? What exactly is a house-elf? Why do they talk like that? Do they not get schooling? What do they do? How are they different from us? What-“

Thankfully Ragna reaches over to cover Hermione’s mouth, stopping her from uttering any more questions. Wayne and Justin were looking already overwhelmed with the first two questions. 

“Breath Hermione and let Justin and Wayne have time to answer your questions,” Ragna suggested before taking her hand off Hermione’s mouth. Hermione huff but turns to look expectantly at both Hufflepuff boys and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone was looking at them waiting for the information to come. 

However, Justin and Wayne shrug their shoulders uncomfortably, “We don’t know the answer to any of those questions. We were just introduced to the house-elves, told they were servants to wizards and witches, and that was it. Justin and I didn’t think to ask more questions.”

Hermione wasn’t the only one disappointed at the lack of information but Lily was the one to come with the obvious solution, “Why don’t we ask them? They are right here.”

“Of course!” Micheal wasn’t the only one who wanted to slap their head at their stupidity. 

Just then Pitts came back with their drinks and snacks. They all thank the house-elf who actually blush at their compliments and Ragna couldn’t help but stare in fascination… at least she wasn’t the only one.

“Hello Pitts, I am Ragna Potter and these are my friends, Hermione Granger, Terry Boot, Micheal Corner, Isobel McDougal, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lily Moon, Sally Smith, William Whites, Stephen Cornfoot, Dean Thomas, Oliver Rivers, and of course you know Justin and Wayne.” Ragna pointed to each of her friends as she mentions their names. 

Ragna hesitated, not sure if a handshake would be considered rude in the house-elf culture so instead, she went with a small awkward bow in greeting… which seemed to have been the wrong move based on Pitts horrified reaction.

“Oh, no! Mistress Potter must not bow to Pitts. Pitts is lowly servant, Pitts bows at great Mistress Potter!”

“It's alright, it's alright, I understand Pitts. No harm done, it’s alright,” Ragna tried to calm down the house-elf that seemed ready to bang her head on the table. Her friends were of no help since they were gaping at the scene in front of them, just as surprised as Ragna by Pitts reaction.

“Pitts, I actually wanted to ask for your help,” Ragna added hoping it would distract the little house-elf and she sighed in relief when it did.

“Pitts can help! How can Pitts be of service to Mistress Potter?”

“I was wondering if you could answer some of our questions. You see my friends and I would like to know more about house-elves. We are all new to the magical world so we are interested in learning as much as we can about the magical world.”

“Pitts cans do that, Pitts cans,” the house-elf nodded nervously but at least she had calmed down and didn’t look like she wanted to bang her head against the table legs. 

“So can you tell me more about the life of a typical house-elf? We were also wondering why you wear, er… what you are wearing now,” Ragna had enough tack to not call them rags in front of the house-elf. “Is there a house-elf school? How do you learn? How does your magic differ? Why is it different if it’s different from magic used by wizards and witches? What are your duties here at Hogwarts?” 

Ragna stopped herself from asking more personal questions like how they mate. The questions she asked were enough to start a conversation going as it was. 

“Pitts tells how Pitts’ mother told Pitts about how house-elves come to be. Pitts’ mother told Pitts house-elves were once beautiful powerful beings. House-elves come to this world as elves, not house-elves, through a portal -a strong magical portal. Some elves return to their land, others made this world theirs home. But elves that stay grew- grew… greedy an- and- and a- arrogant-“ Ragna was impressed that Pitts was able to get the words out when she seemed completely horrified at just the thought of them, like being greedy and arrogant was a crime -one that she had committed. 

“-theys want to learn the magic of wizards and slave others to theys. Theys and wizards went to war for many many years, destroying the world. Animals were affected by theys magic residue, that is how wingless dragons got their wings and fire. Muggle animals were changing and Lady Magic did not like that, not one bit, she not like the world being destroyed so she sent a champion. Magic Champion curse elves making theys house-elves.” After her short story, Pitts had to excuse herself because she had to help with making dinner and the group decided to head to the Great Hall since dinner was going to be served soon. 

Ragna asked Pitts if it was okay for them to return the next day after breakfast and after Pitts agreed the large group of 14 students made their way towards the Great Hall. As they made their way to the Great Hall they held a conversation about what they had just learned, throughout dinner, they held a whispered conversation about what they had just learned.

“…So thoughts?” Oliver asked after no one made a move to speak.

“It could just be a fairy tale to make house-elves children behave,” Hermione pointed out logically first.

“But you got to admit there are always some truths to legends like those,” Terry pointed out right away too.

“Does that mean house-elves are aliens?” Lily asked confuse

“Do you think they found a way to travel dimensions?”

“They could be from another planet.”

“We haven’t found any indication that life existed in any of the other planets.”

“No, but that was only on the planets we have discovered. What about the ones we haven’t?”

“Do you think there are other planets we haven’t discover?”

“Why not? I mean it’s not that far-fetching when you realize magic exists.”

“Point taken.”

“No, but really, what about another dimension?”

“Could be possible, but I don’t think we will ever find the answer to that question. So how about we focus on something else.”

“What about the fact that they wanted to slaved us!”

“Do you think they looked like the elves from the Hobbit?”

“So they were cursed to the life they wanted to curse us to, sounds fair to me.”

“That’s not fair, it was their many times ancestors who wanted to slave wizards and witches so it’s not fair that generations of them are being punished for something they didn’t do.”

“I actually agree with Hermione. I wouldn’t want to be punished for something my many times grandfather did.”

“Alright, alright, so it’s not fair but there isn’t anything we can do.”

“So Lady Magic? What do you make of that?”

“What about the champion?”

“House-elves seem to have different magic even now -after they were cursed- so maybe they can sense magic in a way we can’t?”

“It’s a good theory and it would make sense.”

“Sounds kind of religious to me.”

“What if the champion was actually just someone really good with magic, like Merlin but the elves just refer to him -or her- as Magic’s champion because they believe magic to be sentimental?”

“That’s the logical way to think about it. If you want to believe the more spiritual side then her story would make sense.”

“Is no one really going to talk about the dragons?”

“What about them, Dean?”

“Well, I am not sure about you but if you think about a dragon without wings and without their breathing firepower I imagine dinosaurs.”

“No way!”

“Do you think dragons were actually dinosaurs?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“If the magic residue left due to the war cause mutation we could conclude that many magical animals derived from normal non-magical animals.”

“You mean like a griffin? It has a lion’s body with wings and a bird’s head, do you think a magical mutation caused the existence of griffins?”

“Actually, griffins in the magical world are basically lions with wings. In the muggle world, they were given a bird’s head, usually that of an eagle but in the magical world I was reading the description of one and it doesn’t mention a bird’s head.”

“Oh, I just assume the muggle description of them was true in the magical world. Hermione, how do you even know that?”

“I was curious about what we would be studying in the magical creature class we can take on our third year so I was just giving some books a quick glance.”

“Merlin, not even we have started looking for material years ahead of us.”

“Guys can we get on track. You do realize that if dinosaurs turned to dragons then that means the fight between elves and humans happen around 66 million years ago. That is when we learn in school scientists think the meteoroid hit the earth and cause the dinosaur extinction which now we think was caused by a war between wizards and elves. How crazy is that?”

“Technically this is all speculation since we don't have any facts to back up our hypothesis.”

They continue to go in circles but they all had fun throwing in their theories and thoughts about the topic. Some were more logical and some were pretty naive but Ragna was able to curve some people’s comments so no feelings were hurt. It was sometimes hard making sure that feelings were not hurt with such a diverse group of friends but the rewards far outweighed the effort -at least in Ragna’s opinion. 

* * *

The next morning found the large group of friends all gather in the kitchen. They had learned more about the culture of house-elves and now they were all standing around waiting for the elves to filled a basket full of food for their picnic. 

They were all appalled at some level by their treatment but they were a bit wary of house-elves in general too because they could not forget how those creatures had wanted to slaved them at some point in history. They also knew that even slaved, the little creatures were pretty powerful even if they depended on the magic of wizards and witches to survive. 

“Pitts, don’t you want to wear a uniform? Servants in the muggle world use a uniform to make them look more professional and to let others know the business they represent.” Hermione converse with Pitts while the others split into small groups and were having their own conversation about one thing or another.

“Pitts doesn’t want clothes! Clothes means bad elf, Pitts not bad elf.” Pitts wriggle her hands in anxiety at the topic of conversation.

“But you are only let go if the clothes are given to you by your… employer, but since we are only students that means we can give you clothes without repercussion.” Hermione had trouble with seeing house-elves as owned beings so she avoided the word ‘owner’. 

“Pitts can’ts accept clothes from students! Pitts can’ts!” Pitts became more anxious and Hermione did not miss the fearful look the little house-elf send Ragna’s back since she was not facing them as she talked with Dean, Will, Oliver, and Stephen. 

“Why are you scare of Ragna, Pitts?” Hermione asked loudly catching all of her friends' attention. Hermione gave a startle Ragna a suspicious look, thinking Ragna may have abused or threatened the elves behind their backs.

“What?” Ragna asked looking confused as she approaches Hermione and the elf, the others doing the same.

“Pitts is scare of you,” Hermione answer before Pitts could get anything out, her tone accusatory.

“Back off Hermione,” Micheal told her sharply startling Hermione with his sharp tone. 

Before things could escalate Ragna knelt down so she was closer to Pitts’ height and looked at her kindly. “I am sorry Pitts if I have scared you or offended you in some way, that was never my intention. Can you tell me what’s got you so anxious? I promise to listen and not to be mad,” Ragna told the house-elf gently.

Ragna wasn’t the only one that took a step back startle when Pitts burst into tears. Ragna almost topples over before she regains her balance and she hesitated, unsure if she was breaking some house-elf protocol before she gathers Pitts in her arms and padded her back soothingly. 

Pitts had stiffened in her arms for a moment before she cried in Ragna’s arms. The other elves in the kitchen were wriggling their hands nervously themselves and seemed beyond shock that Ragna would willingly let Pitts cried in her arms. Her friends were not as shocked but still surprise at Ragna’s willingness to comfort the house-elf and her kindness, patience, and gentleness.

But Ragna was not surprised at her own actions. She identifies with the house-elves on some level. No one cared about them and it was up to their luck if they got a kind master or not. They work endlessly, trying to please their master, and yet they never got a 'thanks' in return for their hard work. They were taken for granted and unappreciated. 

Ragna had been like that for the longest time. Doing everything she could do, hoping to please her relatives but it never worked. Her mind logically knew that it didn’t matter if she finished her chores in time, it didn’t matter if she made a full course dinner worthy of a three-star restaurant, and it didn’t matter if she worked hard under the burning sun to make a beautiful garden that made her aunt win an award. Her heart had not wanted to accept the truth, like a fool she had hoped things would change but there came a point in her short life she had to come to terms with the truth… the Dursley’s would never accept her as part of their family.

“There we are Pitts… it feels better to let it all out doesn’t it,” Ragna stated more than asked as Pitts dried her tears off and got a hold of herself. “No need to be embarrassed Pitts, everyone has a breakdown at least once in their life,” Ragna assured the poor mortified elf with a soft smile. 

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Ragna asked to distract Pitts from her episode, especially when she looked like she wished the floor would swallow her down where she stood.

“House-elves don’ts want clothes from Mistress Potter,” Pitts looked at her earnestly as if she was trying to tell her something with her eyes alone.

“You can’t accept clothes from me? I wasn’t thinking about giving you clothes Pitts!” Ragna exclaimed aghast since she knew what clothes meant for house-elves. Pitts had explained it to them just minutes ago.

“I was asking Pitts how she felt about wearing uniforms, we could make them and give it to them since we are students and thus not their… employer,” Hermione informs everyone awkwardly since only she knew where Pitts got the idea of Ragna giving her clothes. 

“You want to give house-elves clothes? Weren’t you listening when Pitts informed us what getting clothes means for them?” Mandy looked at Hermione like she was crazy or like she was being particularly cruel. 

“But Pitts is not referring to all of us, she is only referring about me, right?” Ragna asked Pitts before an argument could break out and Pitts nodded back nervously. Ragna sighed as she sat down on the floor with her legs cross and puts her chin over her fists and thought about the implications.

“So, it’s okay for my friends to give you clothes but not for me because if I give you clothes it would mean something bad and you can’t tell us, right?” Ragna asked Pitts who nodded and continue to look at her expectantly. Her friends continue to watch the interaction that was going on in front of their eyes and even the other house-elves were watching tentatively.

“Does clothes have any other significance in your culture?” Ragna question but got a head shook in return. “So the only reason I can come up with why you don’t want me to give you clothes is that it would signify I was letting you go. But I don’t have the power to break the bond between elf and master because I am not your master… or am I?” Ragna backtrack when Pitts widen her eyes even further which Ragna thought was not possible. 

“Ideas?” Ragna asked her friends because she wasn’t sure what was going on and even if she was a genius she could not solve the puzzle if she didn’t have all of the pieces. 

Her friends actually sat on the floor and copy her posture as they form a circle with Pitts and Ragna in the middle. “So you are the owner?” Stephen shrugs his shoulders like it was that easy.

“Owner of what? Hogwarts?” Terry asked skeptically.

“I have money but I don’t have that much money to buy a castle like Hogwarts and I don’t think my parents during their time had money to buy Hogwarts either.”

“Maybe one of your ancestors bought Hogwarts at one point and you don’t know it,” Oliver pointed out.

“But why would your ancestors buy Hogwarts only to give it back to the public? Why not make a member of your family be the Headmaster or Headmistress instead of allowing a stranger to become one?” 

“I don’t think Hogwarts has ever been bought.” Isobel and Hermione spoke at the same time but they were perfectly heard. 

“We are on the wrong track. Hogwarts wasn’t bought,” Sally declared.

“How can you be sure?” Wayne asked curiously

“Pitts,” Sally pointed out and sure enough the female house-elf had widened her eyes as wide as she could again. She actually seemed ready to jump out of her skin to scream in their faces that they were wrong.

“Okay, if not bought then what another way can you have a master-servant bond with them?” Will wondered out loud.

“Inherit! Inheritance!” Ragna exclaimed as it clicks in her mind.

“You inherit Hogwarts? That means you are descended from one of the founders,” Lily said excitedly.

“But are you really? Zacharias Smith claims he is a descendent from Helga Hufflepuff so shouldn’t he also have a master-servant bond with the house-elves?” Justin question.

“Who is Zacharias Smith?” Lily asked confuse.

“He is another Hufflepuff first year,” Wayne answer.

“Guys let’s not go off track, Pitts does Zacharias Smith have a master-servant bond with you too?” Isobel asked the female house-elf directly but the house-elf did not respond.

“Yes?” Dean ventures out questionable but took it back when Pitts grew her eyes very largely again. 

“So that’s a no. Zacharias Smith is actually not descent from Helga Hufflepuff or another founder because he doesn’t have a master-servant bond with the house-elves,” Micheal concluded.

“Okay, so let’s think. If I didn’t buy Hogwarts and none of my family members did and I and the house-elves have a master-servant bond through inheritance -how could that be?”

“They could be Potter elves,” Dean suggested.

“That makes so much sense!”

“Brilliant!”

“Maybe your family let Hogwarts borrow their house-elves and never got them back?” 

“No, that’s not it. It was a good guess but not right,” Ragna told them since she had been observing Pitts's reaction closely, and based on Pitts's wide eyes she knew it was wrong.

“Argh, alright. So no Potter elves but you still inherit them. Let’s go back to the theory of Ragna being a descendant from the founders,” Mandy told them.

“How would that work?” Sally asked curiously.

“You can’t be related to Rowena Ravenclaw because she only had a daughter that was killed,” Isobel informed the group.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Hermione veers off the topic at hand.

“We, Ravenclaws, are told that Ravenclaw ghost is actually Helena Ravenclaw, the only child of Rowena Ravenclaw, and she was apparently killed before she could have children so the Ravenclaw line died off immediately,” Stephen explained, not going into a lot of detail.

“I still don’t get it, if I am a descendant of a founder shouldn’t my father have known about it or my grandfather or great grandfather? If they inherit Hogwarts shouldn’t they have known and done something about it? Brag about it?” Ragna groans in frustration.

“Wait, no, no Ragna. Not your father! You didn’t inherit Hogwarts through your father… you inherit it through your mother!” Will exclaimed after seeing the widening eyes of Pitts as Ragna ranted about her father and her ancestors from his side of the family. 

“What!” Many exclaimed in shock

“But I thought your mother was a muggleborn!”

“Wasn’t your mother a muggleborn?”

“I thought you said your mother was a muggleborn!”

“Maybe she was adopted by a muggle couple?”

“Maybe but that is not the only possibility.”

“What other possibilities could be there?”

“Maybe her mother came from a line of squibs?”

“Oh! That is just as likely to have happened as being adopted.”

“It could be either way.”

“That would explain why no one knows Ragna technically owns Hogwarts.”

“Does she?”

“How do we prove it?”

“Wait, guys, just wait for a moment,” Ragna stepped in before her friends could get carried away with conspiracy theories. Things had quickly spiraled out of control. 

“Pitts, I am going to tell you what I think… I think I have this master-servant bond with you and the other house-elves and that I own Hogwarts through an inheritance pass through my mother, not my father, which my mother actually never knew about.” Ragna and her friends knew their guess was right by the happy smile on Pitts's face and by the way the other elves vibrated with excitement.

“If you are their master shouldn’t you be able to order them to tell you what is going on?”Micheal pointed out which was a good point and made them all frown.

“Not if the bond is not fully activated!” Hermione exclaimed excitedly after no one spoke as they tried to figure it out.

“What?” Will asked confuse and he wasn’t the only one.

“Think about it. Ragna doesn’t actually feel the bond because if she did she would have known Pitts was her elf but Pitts knew that Ragna was her master so maybe the bond at the moment is only a one-way street.”

“So how do we make the bond be a two-way street?” Dean asked.

“Think about it in a broader and simpler context, if someone leaves you an inheritance how do you get it?” Terry asked them.

“You are notified by a lawyer and you claim whatever they left you,” Justin answered.

“Exactly! But Ragna’s mother never knew so she didn’t claim her inheritance and Ragna didn’t know either so she hasn’t claimed her inheritance either!”

“Oh! So all Ragna has to do is claimed her inheritance!”

“How do you claim an inheritance like Ragna’s? Through Gringotts?”

“The Ministry maybe?”

As her friends threw out suggestions Ragna was more focused on another issue. Another question she wanted to know the answer to.

“Pitts, who forbid you to tell me? Was it the Headmaster?” Ragna’s question silence the whole group as they pay attention to Ragna and Pitts instead.

“I think the answer is more complicated than that,” Wayne commented at seeing Pitts mix gestures.

“But think about it, who would have the authority to forbid house-elves from telling me about it?” Ragna asked a bit more aggressively than she wanted to sound.

“But Pitts could not tell you nor your mother, if not, I am sure Pitts or another house-elf would have approach your mother,” Justin reasoned.

“Maybe the head deputy has the power for something like that?” Oliver suggested.

“Professor McGonagall would never do something like that!”

“No, it’s not Professor McGonagall, just look at Pitts,” Stephen gestures to Pitts whose eyes had widened at the same time Hermione defended Professor McGonagall fiercely. 

“Maybe a member of the school board?”

“Or the whole school board?”

“No,” Terry gestures to Pitts as he denied both theories.

“You were the closes when you mention the headmaster,” Will admitted.

“Maybe… maybe it’s not _the_ headmaster but _a_ headmaster?” Wayne suggested unsurely but they all grew excited when it seemed he actually guess right.

“So maybe a former Headmaster forbid the house-elves from approach any descendants from the founders that could claim Hogwarts?” Dean spoke out and they thought his theory sounded pretty right.

“Look, Pitts… and other house-elves,” Ragna turn to address the house-elves. “I will look into it and see what I can find. We can only speculate at the moment but you can be assured that I -along with my friends- will be researching this topic. I am sorry I can’t do anything at the moment but I really appreciated that you were sneaky enough to bring this matter to my attention. Thank you.”

The elves did seem disappointed that she wasn’t going to do anything right away but they cheered up when she mentioned that she was going to continue to look into the matter instead of ignoring it. She and her friends ended up gathering their basket with food and the stuff they had been carrying with them which were basically the games they planned on playing and made their way outside. 

Thankfully it was a pretty good day to be outside. Of course, on their way out her friends wanted to talk about what they had discovered.

“Look, let’s not talk about this anymore. Anyone could hear our conversation and I don’t want anyone to know about this until we know exactly what we are going to do.”

“But there is no one nearby,” Hermione pointed out.

“This castle has ears everywhere Hermione. Ghosts, portraits, even house-elves could be listening in.”

“But house-elves wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“They may not have a choice, Hermione. Ragna is not their master so the Headmaster could demand them to tell him what they have heard and what they know,” Justin answer this time quietly.

“But it’s only the Headmaster,” Hermione argues back (thankful quietly) not understand why that could be a problem.

“It was a headmaster in the first place who order the house-elves to not talk to any descendant from the founders,” Will pointed out calmly since the others were getting a bit annoyed at Hermione’s persistence.

“But Headmaster Dumbledore wouldn’t do something like that.”

“You don’t know that,” Justin told her sternly. “Headmaster Dumbledore is not only the Headmaster of Hogwarts but he is also a politician and the golden rule when it comes to politicians is to be cautious around them.”

Justin came from a well-off family that rob elbows with wealthy people which included politicians. Many had urged his father to run for office but his father has always declined. His dad always told Justin that politics changes a person, many go into politics with a noble goal in mind and they would slowly start compromising on small things thinking that it was for the greater good until they found themselves compromising more and more until they didn’t realize they had gotten themselves stuck in a cycle that they couldn’t break.

“Look Hermione,” Ragna turn to the girl as they settle down on a patch of grass and started setting up. “If it turns out I am the heir of Hogwarts and I can claim it -there would be a lot of consequences that even the Headmaster wouldn’t like. For one, I would own Hogwarts meaning I would be in charge and no adult -even Albus Dumbledore- would like to listen to a child. 

"He would try to prevent it or discourage me from claiming my inheritance and by doing so he may by accident inform the others about the news and others would try to get their hands on me either for the wealth I would inherit because I am sure Hogwarts is worth a fortune on itself or because of my political power since not only would I own Hogwarts but I would also be the Girl-Who-Lived and heiress Potter. 

"That is not counting those that would want to sign a marriage contract since any children I have, have a high chance of being powerful. Since I am a minor some families could try to get custody of me so that they could control my inheritance until I come of age and while under their control they could sign a marriage contract between me and one of their children so that my inheritance and power would always be in their control. 

“If by some miracle Headmaster Dumbledore doesn’t tell anyone and the news doesn’t get out, he would try to get me on his side and under his control which I already kind of am. He was the one to place me with my relatives and he held into my vault key from Gringotts until I got my Hogwarts acceptance letter. He never approached me to tell me about the magical world and he has me under close observation when I am not at Hogwarts and it’s all because I am the Girl-Who-Lived. He hasn’t shown any personal interest in other orphans from the war except me and that is only because of the part I played in Voldemort’s fall. So I need to know that I can trust you with this information, can I?”

Ragna looked at them closely and she noted how some didn’t look as horrified by what she had just told them. Those were the ones who were more aware of the world and held a less naive look than the others had, but some like Hermione were having a hard time accepting the truth. 

“Can I trust you to keep quiet?” Ragna asked again, eyeing them critically.

The first to nod were Justin, Terry, Micheal, Wayne, and Will who were the ones who hadn’t look as shock and horrified by what Ragna told them. Dean, Lily, Sally, Oliver, and Isobel nodded at her -they trusted her, they were loyal to her already, she could see it in their eyes. Hermione, Stephen, and Mandy were the last to nod reluctantly -their bonds to her were the weakest, Ragna concluded. She observed and noted it all down but she moved on from the conversation, no need to continue such a depressing topic.

“By the way, tried to avoid looking at the Headmaster and Professor Snape in their eyes because I think they can read minds,” Ragna commented lightly like she had not just dropped a bombshell on them.

“What!” Many screeched.

“Yep, not every wizard or witch can do it… I think, and I believe that it takes time to master such skill so I don’t think you have to worry about other students -at least not other first years. I will try to look more into the subject and let you guys know what I find out when I do… but now I want to play some football!” Ragna cheered as she transfigures two football goal nets and a football. 

Her friends looked after her in disbelieve before they look at each other and shrug because what else could they do when Ragna Potter is involved? That's right, just go with the flow. 

Soon they were making teams with Dean and Wayne as captains. Oliver, Isobel, Mandy, and Dean were in a team. Ragna, Terry, Micheal, Stephen, and Wayne in another team. Will became the referee because he didn’t want to play. Justin and Hermione decided to stay out and instead they set up a game of checkers to the side. Lily and Sally were just fine staying at the sidelines and cheering them on but got drag into the game and put in Dean’s team. 

Together they spend the whole afternoon playing and having fun. They all took a break to eat and played some board games as they waited for their food to go down before they started playing another game. 

During the afternoon many switch teams and some left to rest for a bit while others came to play. Justin join their team when Michael took a rest. Will came in to play while Terry took his place and became the referee. Then at some point, they were all playing football… even Hermione!

At some point, they all found themselves in the field except Hermione who had a book open as she sat under a tree. Ragna wouldn’t have it and basically drag her to play with the rest of them. It was obvious Hermione was not a sporty person but neither were Lily, Terry, and Micheal so it didn’t matter. They were playing for fun after all and not to win. Towards the end, Hermione actually scored a goal and none were more shocked than Hermione herself. They all actually pile on her in excitement as they cheered for her and congratulated her happily... even those on the opposite team.

Justin had decided to bring his camera with him so they took various pictures of each other but Ragna’s favorite was the picture they took at the end -all of them squish together all sweaty with their faces all cherry red and dirty with their clothes stained with grass and mud but with big happy smiles. 

Other students had ventured outside since it was a good day and many had looked curiously at the large group but no one had approached them, fortunately for Ragna. Her friends had ignored the stares they had gained because they were getting used to them since they had been stared at the whole week for their unusual friendship. 

That afternoon they headed towards their common room to shower and get cleaned up for dinner and at dinner they actually had sat together as they loudly converse, coming up with a random topic to discuss. Dean had actually gotten them talking about the curse on the defense against the dark arts position. They came up with theories on how the curse was put, how they could break it, and what fate would befall on Professor Quirrell.

They all had a good day despite everything and they ended the afternoon on a good note and in good spirits so Ragna along with everyone else in their group besides Justin and Wayne (for obvious reasons) were surprised by the unexpected change on Monday morning.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a question for my readers, what do you feel about Ragna paired with one of the twins... or both? 
> 
> Also, how do you feel about including some pureblood into her circle of friends? I read some fanfictions where the Weasley family gets some bashing and I get the desire to bash them all in my story, but then I read some stories where the Weasley family really is a sweetheart and I don't want to bash them.
> 
> Do you want this story to be pretty much black and white? Pureblood vs Muggleborns or a mix of shades of grey in between where there are good and bad purebloods? Can some people be redeemed? 
> 
> What about Ron? I bash half of the students in Ravenclaw and I don't particularly plan on redeeming them nor the half of Hufflepuff first-year students that I bash in the next chapter but what about Ron, Seamus, and Neville? I don't really think I will add the Pureblood Gryffindor first-year girls just because I really don't want Ragna's group to expand too largely.
> 
> Let me know what you think because at this moment I stopped writing because I don't know what path I want to take. 🤔


End file.
